The psyche as a widespread disease: many people are experiencing a “protracted crisis”.

The pandemic is over and yet it is not. The damage caused by the virus has a greater impact than that. In addition to the holes in the federal budget, the upheavals in the labor market and the long-term Covid illnesses, this also applies to the soul of the people.

The psychological burden is still higher compared to the pre-Covid era. This is the conclusion of the Swiss Health Observatory (Obsan) in a study published on Tuesday. 5,502 people aged 15 and over living in Switzerland were interviewed.

Stefan Vetter, chief physician of the Psychiatric University Clinic Zurich (PUK), confirms that society is still in an “adaptation phase of the pandemic restrictions”. He also emphasizes that there are new, additional pressures, such as the war in Europe and inflation. “The latest studies indicate that many people are going through an ongoing, individual crisis.”

The Obsan study states: Every eighth person (13.5 percent) has such strong psychological symptoms that they become limited in their daily lives or have suicidal thoughts.

Particularly affected: 15 to 24 year olds. As before the pandemic, they are performing worse than the population average on indicators of positive mental health and on nearly all recorded disease symptoms. For example, 17 percent of this group has severe anxiety symptoms, compared to 9 percent of the general population.

Accordingly, requests for treatment at the PUK have increased the most in children, adolescents and young adults, says Vetter. He cites the fact that mental illness is still underserved as the biggest problem right now. This is multifactorial.

Vetter cites the “persistent stigmatization of mental illness, the increasing shortage of skilled labor, complex access routes to the health care system, underdeveloped outpatient and semi-inpatient treatment options, and the great need for coordination between the outpatient and inpatient pricing systems”. as reasons.

The study reaffirms a gender gap: 36 percent of young women surveyed reported having “severe symptoms.” About 30 percent suffer from moderate to severe depression symptoms, 29 percent from social phobia. The figures for young men are lower, but still above the average for the general population. About 15 percent of young men report moderate to severe symptoms of depression (12 percent in the general population), and 9 percent of them have had suicidal thoughts in the past 12 months (5 percent in the general population).

At the same time, a relatively large number of affected young women (85 percent) seek help for psychological problems. This is broadly defined in the research and includes everything from talking about it to reading books or blogs to therapeutic treatments. According to the research, the most common case is that the psychological problem is discussed with the social environment.

69 percent of young men seek support. About 375,000 of the affected young people do not seek help.

There is also a geographic divide. The study concludes that anxiety disorders are much more pronounced in French-speaking (26 percent, especially the Lake Geneva region) and Italian-speaking areas (33 percent) than in German-speaking Switzerland (12 percent). According to the authors, this is not a coincidental finding, as healthcare providers see a similar regional pattern in the dispensing of benzodiazepines used to treat anxiety. The study gives no reasons.

Vetter also assumes that the regional difference is not accidental, but cannot explain it. However, the prescription of benzodiazepines is certainly a manifestation of the frequency of anxiety disorders. The psychiatrist emphasizes that benzodiazepines should only be used for a short time at the beginning of the treatment.

On the positive side, psychological stress decreases with age. The 65-year-olds and older are less affected. However, they are also less active in addressing mental health issues as they arise. One in two older men and one in three affected women do not seek help.

In total, almost 10 percent more people are being treated for psychological problems today than in 2017 (6 percent). The reasons for this are unclear. The increase is at best also due to the fact that people today are more knowledgeable about the subject and are getting help sooner. (aargauerzeitung.ch)