Cuba crisis takes growing mental toll, doctors say

Cuba's prolonged crisis is taking a growing mental toll on residents, doctors and Cubans interviewed across the island say, as blackouts, shortages, housing problems and uncertainty wear down daily life.

In Central Havana, 44-year-old Mayumis Nunez sleeps outside the building where she lived for years after part of the century-old structure collapsed three weeks ago and was declared uninhabitable. She still climbs to her damaged apartment each morning to bathe, change clothes and prepare for work.

Since Washington launched an energy blockade in January, living conditions have worsened, according to the supplied information. Power cuts stop water pumps, gasoline shortages have reduced public buses, and many Cubans face daily struggles to get food, water and transport.

At Havana's Calixto Garcia hospital, doctors at a stress-management clinic say the crisis is increasingly reflected in patient visits. Students, retirees and professionals describe worries over blackouts, economic hardship, relatives who have emigrated and plans put on hold.

Tania Peon, Havana's director of mental health, said a large part of the population lives in a permanent "state of alert" because people are constantly focused on meeting basic needs. "It's stress on top of stress," she said.

Peon said the level of exhaustion is high and warned that suicidal behaviour among teenagers increased in the first half of this year. She said the trend cannot be attributed solely to the country's crisis, but also cannot be separated from the uncertainty and daily pressure many young people face.

A survey carried out in 2025 among Cuban adults detected "extremely severe" levels of depression, anxiety and stress and found a direct relationship between prolonged blackouts and worsening mental health.

Residents interviewed in Havana and rural Consolacion del Sur described disrupted work, spoiled products, water shortages, theft fears and rising prices. Several said they tried to cope by focusing only on what they could control or by avoiding thinking too much about their problems.