The mental health of Cuban residents is on the decline, and the socialist government is only further increasing the growing number of mentally ill Cubans. As a result from socialist attempts to reform and better the economy, the eleven million inhabitants of Cuba struggle to gather basic necessities from day to day. To summarize the difficulties of Cuban residents, “a million Cubans lack proper housing”, “income disparity is increasing . . .[with] the numbers of poor and vulnerable growing”, and “the social welfare has been cut, with seventy percent less people receiving state benefits”(Lima). Consequently,with the decline of Cuban physical health, the mental health of Cubans holds a high risk of also declining. In Lima’s article, she references …show more content…
Cubans can act in a range of radical manners, but one way that is a consequence of socialism-caused mental illness is through suicide. Unsurprisingly, “Cuba has the highest rate of depression and suicide in the New World” (Navarro). …show more content…
Furthermore, depression, as the main cause of mental health problems, is a growing concern as one-fourth of Cubans seeking help from mental health facilities suffer from depression. However, these health facilities, that are at times provided by the Cuban government, sometimes sympathize the patient and simply prescribe a pill - not curing the patient who is on the verge of becoming mentally ill. Additionally, smoking and alcohol consumption is increasing along with the number of those who are mentally ill - conveying that smoking and alcohol consumption are directly related as main side effects of mental health issues. To go further, irresponsible drinking as a result of being mentally ill can cause even more mental health problems for those who are affected by the drinker. Irresponsible drinking can lead to violence and abuse, causing physical and mental harm on the victim - this is especially evident in a previously read text, The Distance Between Us. Therefore, as a root cause of the deteriorating mental health of Cubans, the socialist government and the restrictive policies enacted serve as a detrimental source to the Cuban