Portugal: Pandemic is causing mental health havoc – by Len Port
Posted on 01 February 2021.
Mental health issues are festering on the sidelines of the constant news reports about COVID’19 infection and death rates, strict lockdown measures, the economic slump and vaccination plans.
As is the case globally, a great many citizens in Portugal have to cope with Covid-related stress, anxiety, loneliness, fear, depression, anger or worse.
Other symptoms include changes in appetite, energy and interests. Some people are having difficulty concentrating, making decisions or sleeping. Headaches, body pains, stomach problems and skin rashes are among the physical reactions to worsening mental conditions that at the other end of the scale are causing domestic violence and self-harm.
As little as nine months ago, Portugal was considered a model of success in the battle against COVID-19, particularly in comparison to neighbouring Spain.
But in early 2021, with the country’s rate of new cases reaching the highest in the world in proportion to its population last week, and ambulances queueing outside Lisbon hospitals as its health service buckles under the strain, it is a grimly different story.
“The main hospitals are overcharged with sick people and doctors,” Manuel Carvalho, the director of one of Portugal’s biggest daily newspapers, Público, told Al Jazeera. “It is increasingly impossible to take care of all people that ask for help. Things are really bad and there are no signs of improvement.”