October 10 is World Mental Health Day. The World Health Organization declares that 1 in 8 people are affected by these diseases, but as far as Albania is concerned, experts are of the opinion that the figures are higher, as Albanians are ashamed to go to a psychologist for such problems.

“We have an increase in mental health problems in the population after the earthquake, after COVID, a noticeable increase, which is also confirmed by psychiatrists. There are INSTAT statistics, but psychologists and psychiatrists think they are several times higher than what has been published. People find it difficult to go to psychologists and psychiatrists, people hide their problems, keep them inside the house, so under these conditions we do not have clear statistics of mental health problems,” said Valbona Treska, president of Psychologist’s orders.

But what are the most pronounced mental health problems in Albania?

“We have an increased tendency of mood disorders, but there are also other problems and more pronounced and stronger disorders such as schizophrenia,” said Treska.

Wanting to hide the problem, citizens resort to self-medication, directly at the pharmacy.

Experts draw attention to timely detection of mental health problems. According to global data, 19% of the adult population, 46% of adolescents and 13% of children are affected by mental health diseases every year.