RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The stress that the coronavirus pandemic has caused in the population in Mexico has led to an increase of up to 30% in the sale of antidepressants compared to the start of the health emergency, Mexican pharmacists said on Wednesday, December 23rd.
“There has been a sustained increase of 30% in the sale of antidepressants since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Juvenal Becerra, president of the National Union of Pharmacy Entrepreneurs (Unefarm), who attributed this situation to “stress caused to the population”.
The increase in the sale of drugs such as diazepam, clonazepam or methylphenidate, recommended for the treatment of insomnia, panic disorders and depression, also report an increase of 20% for the National Association of Pharmacies of Mexico (Unafarmex), confirmed its president, Antonio Pascual.
Both agree that the increase in the sale of this type of medicine responds to a logical consequence of the stress caused by the recommendation to stay at home and the economic crisis derived from COVID-19.
However, Becerra explained that “the supply of these drugs has not reached a shortage like the one seen in prescription drugs for the treatment of COVID-19 symptoms, such as ivermectin, cyprolysin, dexamethasone and paracetamol.”
Regarding the supply of medicines, he assured that Unefarm has product stocks for a total of 30 days; however, “material in warehouses may be modified by the exponential and worrying increase in infections,” Becerra lamented.
In addition, he revealed that “antidepressants have played a relevant role since the beginning of the pandemic” and predicted that this role will continue even until the vaccine can reach the entire population.
Both directors confirmed that the contingency brought an “alteration” to the pharmaceutical sector, since both accept that they have been in very complicated situations.
Both Pascual and Becerra agree that the pandemic has greatly altered the sale of different drugs, both those used to counteract COVID-19, as well as those prescribed for the emotional ravages.
Alejandro Jiménez Genchi, a teacher in psychiatry and president of the Mexican Academy of Sleep Medicine, said a few weeks ago that at least 60% of Mexicans have had their sleep affected due to the stress, anxiety and depression that the pandemic has generated. by coronavirus.
“With insomnia, a person who does not sleep well is exposed to cardiovascular, metabolic and emotional risks,” he said.
Genchi explained that people who sleep less than 6 hours a day have up to 66% risk of developing arterial hypertension, conditions that health authorities have reported can increase the risk of presenting a serious picture of symptoms when infected by coronavirus.
COVID-19 has left more than 1.3 million infections in Mexico and exceeds 118,000 deaths since its arrival in Mexico in February of this year.