Bogotá, October 12, 2021. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection encourages actions aimed at promoting mental health, and the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of mental problems and disorders.

"Mental health is a dynamic state that is expressed in daily life through behavior and interaction in a way that allows individual and collective subjects to deploy their emotional, cognitive and mental resources to move through daily life, to work, to establish meaningful relationships and to contribute to the community," said Nubia Bautista, deputy director of Noncommunicable Diseases.

In the region of the Americas, mental, neurological and substance use disorders and suicide account for more than one third (34%) of the total years lived with disability, with depressive disorders being the major cause of disability. Almost 100,000 people die by suicide each year in the region.

Bautista indicated that "in Colombia, the National Mental Health Survey (2015) and the most recent drug use studies (issued to the general population in 2019; to university students, in 2016; and to schoolchildren, in 2016) have identified that the main mental health problems are the increasing prevalence of depression (approximately 5% of the adult population) and suicidal behavior."

In response to this scenario, the Ministry of Health and Social Protection implemented "the tele-orientation strategy in mental health, through option 4 of Line 192, aimed at intervention in the first instance, with psychological first aid and high standards of quality, to the entire population that needs it," said Bautista.

In the outcomes delivered by the official, in Colombia, about 24,000 interactions were carried out on National Line 192 option 4, from April 2020 to June 2021, within the framework of tele-orientation in mental health. It was identified that the main problems were symptoms of anxiety, reactions to stress, symptoms of depression and exacerbation of symptoms of previous mental disorders.

The main mental health problems that Colombia has been facing, according to the ENSM (2015) and the latest studies on drug use (general population study 2013, university students 2016, schoolchildren 2016), are:

·         Increased prevalence of depression (approximately 5% of the adult population), being the second cause of disease burden in Colombia.

·         In children, 12.4% get scared or nervous for no reason, 9.7% have frequent headaches, 2.3% have attention deficit disorder and hyperactivity.

·         In adolescents, the most frequent disorders are anxiety, social phobia, and depression, where 6.6% presented suicidal ideation (7.4% in women and 5.7% in men). On average, consumption of alcohol and other psychoactive substances begins at age 13.

·         In adults, the lifetime prevalence of affective disorders is 6.7%. The most commonly used psychoactive substances are alcohol and illicit psychoactive substances such as marijuana.

·         Suicide completion rate has increased in recent years (4.49 in 2013 to 5.07 in 2017), mostly in young people, keeping the same behavior as the global trend, which is associated with the weakening of social support networks, increased mental problems and disorders and the use of psychoactive substances.

·         Increase in the consumption of illicit psychoactive substances in the general population (1.6% in 1996, 2.74% in 2008, 3.6% in 2013). The most widely used illegal substance is marijuana, followed by cocaine.

·         Despite the decrease in the prevalence of alcohol consumption (61.65% in 1996, 61.18% in 2008, 58.78% in 2013), this continues to be the most consumed substance, mainly among young people (8 out of 10), increasing the risk of chronic diseases, family dysfunction, loss of social networks and dual pathology.

Additionally, Bautista urged all to take into account that World Mental Health Day, held last Sunday, "is an opportunity to strengthen the territorial commitment for the implementation of the National Mental Health Policy and the Comprehensive Prevention and Care Policy for the consumption of psychoactive substances, following the principles of inclusion and non-discrimination and social participation."