The results show that while psychiatric disorders are common in the Mexican population, very severe mental disorders are less common and there is extreme under-utilization of mental health services.
While drug use among Mexican adolescents is lower than among adolescents from other developed countries, its increasing prevalence with age and the narrowing male/female ratio calls for firm public health actions, particularly prevention strategies.
Male adolescents who have worked the previous year, have high exposure within the family and are affiliated with drug using peers are at increased risk of becoming drug users and subject to depression and suicidal ideation as well as drug-related social problems.
A noticeable number of Mexicans have a drug use disorder, but demand for treatment is limited, in part due to stigma. Our results indicate that there is an urgent need to organize the specialized services for persons with a substance abuse disorder according to the prevalence of dependence on different substances and the variation in prevalence in the different regions of the country.
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