Primary causes have been infection and the risk of infection in long-stay facilities such as care homes and psychiatric institutions; barriers to meeting people face-to-face; mental health staff being infected with the virus; and the closing of mental health facilities to convert them into care facilities for people with COVID-19.
That’s why, for this year’s World Mental Health Day, WHO, together with partner organizations, United for Global Mental Health and the World Federation for Mental Health, is calling for a massive scale-up in investment in mental health.
“World Mental Health Day is an opportunity for the world to come together and begin redressing the historic neglect of mental health,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.
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我们已经看到了COVID-19大流行对人们精神健康的影响，而这仅仅是个开始。
“We are already seeing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on people’s mental well-being, and this is just the beginning.
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除非我们现在就做出严肃承诺，加大对精神卫生的投资，否则将产生深远的健康、社会和经济后果”。
Unless we make serious commitments to scale up investment in mental health right now, the health, social and economic consequences will be far-reaching.”
During the past few months, the World Health Organization has issued, in collaboration with partners, guidance and advice on mental health for health workers and other frontline workers, managers of health facilities, and people of all ages whose lives have changed considerably as a result of the pandemic.
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随着卫生服务的中断，各国正在寻找提供精神卫生保健的创新方式，加强社会心理支持的举措也纷纷涌现。
With the disruption in health services, countries are finding innovative ways to provide mental health care, and initiatives to strengthen psychosocial support have sprung up.
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然而，由于这个问题规模大，绝大多数精神卫生需求仍然没有得到解决。
Yet, because of the scale of the problem, the vast majority of mental health needs remain unaddressed.