Queues are growing, specialists are lacking: a troubling situation with mental health 0 12

Alcohol and drugs lead to suicides, depression, and other mental health issues. Not only adults suffer, but also minors. Treatment is often complicated by the unavailability of specialists - for example, one has to wait up to three months for an appointment with a child psychiatrist in Riga.

Data for 2024 shows that 250 people lost their lives due to suicides, with 42% of these cases related to alcohol consumption. The number of suicide attempts among youth has also increased - in 2018, there were 108 recorded cases, while two years ago, there were 1110 (corresponding to 83 and 477 patients).

Latvia ranks among the top in the EU for substance abuse (11.7 liters of alcohol per capita): 78% of adolescents aged 15 to 16 have consumed alcohol at least once in their lives, and 17% have used drugs. Signs of depression and anxiety are also widespread: around 20% of people are affected over the course of a year, and 62% have experienced stress and depression.

Postpartum depression is common as well - it affects 18%, or about one-fifth of mothers, reported Marika Petrovicha, head of the Mental Health, Addiction Prevention, and Integrated Services Department of the Ministry of Health, at a meeting of the Saeima's Public Health Subcommittee. The main issues in this area are the availability of certified and practicing specialists: there are queues for both psychiatrists, including child psychiatrists, and narcologists. The reason is the shortage of these doctors.

Statistics for this year show that there are 55 child psychiatrists, 258 psychiatrists, and 90 psychotherapists. All of them are overloaded and often face burnout. Speaking about changes in legislation, Petrovicha reminded that since last year, a procedure has been established for making decisions about mandatory narcological treatment for minors: this must be done if there is a threat to life or health and other treatment methods are ineffective. Additionally, stricter restrictions on the availability and sale of alcohol will be introduced starting August 1, 2025.

Two methodological guidance centers have been created - the National Center for Mental Health and the Children's Clinical University Hospital, whose task is to monitor the quality of the treatment process and a unified approach to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and continuity. This week, the government meeting supported the unification of state psychiatric hospitals (Daugavpils, Strenči, Gintermuiža, Primorsk, and Ainaži) under the management of the National Center for Mental Health.