Treatment of severe mental illness in the U.S. and Cuba – a comparison
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Sue Harris is a psychologist who has worked in psychiatric hospitals and group homes and has been in private practice since 1968. She is co-author of “Interpersonal Psychoanalytic Theory for the 21st Century: Evolving Self,” published by Lexington Books, an imprint of Rowman and Littlefield.

In socialist Cuba, it is a different story. There are enough doctors, nurses and other medical workers, psychiatrists and psychologists to cover the entire Cuban population. “The physician to citizen ratio in Cuba is the world’s highest, with 8 physicians to every 1,000 citizens, more than double the ratio of physicians to citizens in the U.S. (Gonzalez Mendez, 2005; Campion & Morrissey, 2015)

In Cuba, “Mental and medical healthcare are free and fully integrated. Early diagnosis and intervention are standard, as each patient is known by their community doctor/nurse team from infancy through old age and by yearly home visits.” (“Learning about mental healthcare in today’s Cuba: An interview with the president of the Cuban society of psychology,” — Linz, Sheila J & Ruiz, Alexis Lorenzo, 2020)

If informed by a family member of a psychiatric problem, an intervention in Cuba can occur early before the mental health problem becomes a crisis. Doctors and nurses have established relationships with their patients, and usually live in the same community with government-supported, rent-free housing to foster long-standing relationships (“Briefing on the Cuban Mental Health System,” Jeffrey Kleinberg, 2018).

If the profit motive is removed, a “cure” for the dreaded mental ‘diseases’ of schizophrenia, paranoia, bipolar disorder or any of the diagnoses contained under the rubric of SMI is relatively simple and effective, as is demonstrated in Cuba. This occurs despite the crippling sanctions imposed by the United States.