This data indicates that over half the patients treated for depressive disorders are diagnosed as suffering from recurrent depression or bipolar affective disorder, while a third manifest various depressive reactions. A similar trend is noted among patients treated in mental hospitals.

Source: Zaklady Psychiatrycznej oraz neurologicznej opieki zdrowotnej. Rocznik statystyczny (Psychiatric and neurological care institutions. Statistical Yearbook). Instytut Psychiatrii i Neurologii, Warszawa 1980-1998

In 1997 the number of inpatients treated for depressive disorders was about 50% smaller than the number of schizophrenic inpatients (41 and 83 per 100,.000 inhabitants, respectively). Among first admissions, however, depressive patients outnumbered schizophrenic patients (18% and 12%, respectively). This seems to indicate that the incidence of depressive disorders (including severe depressive states requiring hospitalisation) is increasing in Poland.

The data above pertains to patients registered in public psychiatric facilities. Some patients with mental health disorders, including depressive disorders, are not treated at all or receive treatment outside the public health care system. Private clinics are not included in the system of statistical data collection. Research findings also indicate that primary care practitioners see 70% of patients with mental health problems, most of whom are non-psychotic.

Research, involving over 2000 people, was conducted on changes in the mental health of adults in Poland between 1991 and 1997.⁴ It reveals that mental health problems improved gradually between 1993 and 1995, specifically the incidence and prevalence of depression. In one study, subjects were asked, "How often in the past month were you sufficiently depressed to think of suicide." From the responses, researchers deduced that the number of persons responding "never" increased in 1993 and 1996 and decreased significantly in 1997. According to parallel research conducted between 1994 and 1997, self-reporting symptoms of depression decreased and then stabilised during the same period.*

The decrease in the severity of depressive symptoms can be related to the consolidation of changes in the Polish economy, following the reforms introduced in 1990. Almost 2 million small businesses were created, unemployment dropped, and people learned to cope with a new way of life and became more self-reliant.

* Results in the first study were arrived at using the statistical methodology tool, the t-test. The second study relied on the Beck Depression Inventory, a four-grade scale to self-estimate symptoms of depression.

Status of the mental health care system

 

According to 1998 statistics, Poland's mental health care system included the following:⁵

* 49 mental hospitals (26,000 beds),