Mental Health Crisis Grips Marrakech: Shortage of Beds and Meds Fuels Homelessness Surge

The increase in the number of mentally ill people on the streets of Marrakech is due to the severe lack of medications, particularly those for injections, as well as the reduction in free medications provided to patients, which affects the treatment process and leads to repeated relapses, explains a source within the Amrchich Psychiatric Hospital in Marrakech.

In a statement to Al3omk, she added that the hospital’s capacity remains limited compared to the growing number of patients, indicating that the women’s ward, for example, has barely 20 beds. A situation that forces the medical staff to release the less severe cases in order to make room for new patients.

For severe cases requiring hospitalization, the duration of treatment ranges from ten days to a month or more. After this period, the patient is released, and it is up to the family to ensure the stabilization of their health condition. Unfortunately, the patients are often abandoned by their relatives, ending up wandering the streets after an incomplete treatment.

In short, the lack of regular follow-up after leaving the hospital worsens the health of the patients. According to the same source, some patients "get used to the street" and refuse to stay in health centers or shelters, which are otherwise costly and non-permanent solutions, and can be considered a "deprivation of the person’s freedom."