A study published in 2026 in the journal Social Science & Medicine reveals that 55.4% of the surveyed Cuban adults experience extremely severe depression, 66% suffer from severe anxiety, and 65.8% endure extreme stress—figures that journalist and researcher Rolando Cartaya described as "impossible in any population, let alone the population of Cuba."
The research is conducted by Zoylen Fernández from the University of Las Villas Marta Abreu and Yusnier Broche-Pérez from Prisma Behavioral Center in Miami.
Cartaya, project director of the Cuban Observatory of Conflicts and spokesperson for the Cuban Repressors program, cited this data during an interview with journalist Tania Costa, who emphasized its exceptional nature. "Fifty-five percent is more than half of the population experiencing severe stress and depression. And sixty-five percent are dealing with anxiety. It’s horrible."
The researcher had previously explained in the same conversation that blackouts are the main trigger of street protests in Cuba. “You can't sleep, your food spoils, you can't go to work.”
Younger adults turned out to be the most vulnerable group to stress and depressive symptoms, according to the study.
This mental health picture is framed within what Cartaya describes as "a multisystemic humanitarian crisis" that encompasses food shortages, a collapsing healthcare system, and citizen insecurity, but where power outages "completely destabilize life."
The testimonies of Cubans exhausted by the electrical crisis have multiplied on social media. A Cuban mother described her mental exhaustion in a message that went viral, while a Cuban father sent a heartbreaking message to the regime this week denouncing the living conditions.
The scenario described by the data leads Cartaya to agree with the warning issued by the economist Emilio Morales from Cuba Siglo XXI at the beginning of 2025: that the island was heading towards "haitinization," an extreme socioeconomic collapse comparable to that of Haiti.
"There we have it. We are Haitiinized," Cartaya stated.
The psychological crisis is not limited to those who remain on the island. When asked if the Cuban community in exile also faces psychological issues, Cartaya acknowledged that he has no data to respond.
Cuba has documented instances of a high rate of suicide cases: approximately 9,000 Cubans took their lives between 2013 and 2017, according to official data, and depression is recognized as the primary risk factor, worsened today by the shortage of psychiatric medications and the lack of specialized care.
The study on the psychological impact of blackouts employs research with scientific methodology that quantifies this damage in the adult population of Cuba, and its figures, according to Cartaya, only confirm what was already visibly apparent on an island subjected to 67 years of dictatorship and an unprecedented crisis in its recent history.
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