Spanish
Santo Domingo.- Two episodes of extreme violence, allegedly linked to mental disorders, have shaken Dominican society and raised alarms about access to diagnosis, treatment, and specialized mental health care.
One of these events occurred in the Naco sector, in the National District, when a 30-year-old man, who allegedly suffered from schizophrenia, attacked several people inside the building where he resided. The event left a 70-year-old woman dead and at least five people injured, including neighbors and relatives of the attacker.
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Another case happened in 2024, where a woman, an active member of the Armed Forces, was arrested after beheading her nine-year-old daughter. Both cases share a common element, the lack of clinical follow-up for people with a history or evident symptoms of mental disorders, which experts consider a failure of the health system and current public policies. Clinical psychologist Angélica García explained that this type of event may be directly related to the interruption of treatment, lack of diagnosis, or abandonment of the patient by their environment. "Lack of medication, a decompensation at some point, an inadequate or untimely diagnosis, or the person not following that treatment... that could be. Also, acute stress can trigger an episode," the specialist indicated. García points out that in many cases families do not have the resources to afford the medications or the specialized follow-up required by a psychiatric patient. "Many don't have money to buy their medications. Then it happens that a low-income family doesn't have the economic capacity to access those medications," he added. The psychologist warns that it is urgent to establish solid and sustained public policies over time to address mental health, with emphasis on prevention, early diagnosis, free access to medications, and clear emergency protocols. “There must be more habilitated centers and specialized personnel, such as 9-1-1 intervention teams trained to deal with this type of psychiatric situations. We need guidance, but also structures that respond to a mental health crisis,” he concluded.
