Financial crisis may increase mental health woes

By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - The global financial crisis is likely to cause increased mental health problems and even suicides as people struggle to cope with poverty and unemployment, the World Health Organization warned on Thursday.

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide are already affected by mental problems such as depression and bi-polar disorders and the current market meltdown could exacerbate feelings of despair among people vulnerable to such illnesses.

The United Nations agency said the impact could be especially marked for those living in low and middle income countries where access to treatment is often limited.

"We should not be surprised or underestimate the turbulence and likely consequences of the current financial crisis. As it is we are seeing a huge gap in taking care of people in great need," WHO director general Margaret Chan told a meeting of mental health experts.

Poverty and its associated stresses including violence, social exclusion and "constant insecurity" are linked to the onset of mental disorders, she said.

"It should not come as a surprise that we continue to see more stresses, suicides and mental disorders," Chan warned.

Chan denounced the "abysmal lack of care" for some mental health patients, especially in low and middle income countries, home to three out of four sufferers. Governments must make mental health a vital part of primary health care, she said.

Benedetto Saraceno, director of WHO's mental health and substance abuse department, said mental health disorders affect one in four people at some point in their lives.

Mental and neurological disorders are often chronic and disabling, he said. Nearly 1 million people commit suicide worldwide every year, a large proportion of them young adults.