Mental Illness Up

Currently, 103,500 patients with serious mental disorders (mostly those with a type of schizophrenia) are under cover of the State Welfare Organization (SWO) of whom, 70,000 are men and the remaining are women and adolescents. “The number of people with mental illness for free services offered by the SWO has increased dramatically,” said Hossein Nahvinejad deputy head of rehabilitation. “Under the sixth five-year economic development plan (2017-22), the SWO is committed to bring at least 75% of patients with mental illness under free healthcare and rehabilitation services,” IRNA quoted him as saying. Around 25% of people with serious mental disorders receive free services. It is estimated that there are 350,000 Iranians suffering from schizophrenia, a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person thinks, feels, and behaves.