Prolonged power outages in Cuba are associated with adverse mental health outcomes, particularly when daily functioning is disrupted, highlighting energy instability as a critical public health concern.
Extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress predominated across the Cuban adult sample exposed to prolonged blackouts.
Both blackout severity and functional disruption were positively associated with all three mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and stress).
Functional impact of blackouts emerged as the strongest predictor of all mental health outcomes, explaining substantial additional variance beyond demographic variables and blackout severity.
When functional impact was included in the regression model, the association between outage severity and mental health was attenuated for stress and anxiety but remained significant for depression.
Younger age was associated with higher stress and depression among Cuban adults experiencing prolonged blackouts.
The study framed stable electricity access as a social determinant of health and positioned prolonged power outages as chronic stressors with mental health consequences.
This research suggests that the prolonged and frequent power outages experienced in Cuba are strongly linked to poor mental health among adults living there. In a survey of 415 Cuban adults conducted in 2025, researchers found that extremely severe levels of depression, anxiety, and stress were the most common among participants. Both the severity of blackouts and — more importantly — how much those blackouts disrupted people's daily lives were associated with worse mental health across all three outcomes measured. A key finding is that the disruption to daily functioning caused by blackouts matters more than the blackouts themselves. When the researchers accounted for how much blackouts interfered with people's everyday activities, the direct link between blackout severity and stress or anxiety largely disappeared. This suggests it is not merely being in the dark that harms mental health, but the downstream consequences — such as inability to work, access food, stay cool, or maintain routines — that drive psychological distress. Depression, however, remained linked to blackout severity even after accounting for functional disruption, suggesting it may be more directly affected by the experience of prolonged outages itself. Younger adults also showed higher levels of stress and depression. This research suggests that energy access should be recognized as a public health issue, not just an infrastructure one. When electricity is unreliable for extended periods, the harm extends beyond physical inconvenience to measurable psychological suffering. The findings point to the importance of addressing both the frequency of outages and their practical impact on daily life when designing public health responses to energy crises.
Broche-Pérez Y, Fernández-Fleites Z. (2026). Powerless and pressured: Mental health vulnerabilities in the context of prolonged blackouts in Cuba.. Social science & medicine (1982). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2026.119419