“The fight against stigma isn’t won through street demonstrations; it’s won through humanization. There should be absolute normalization,” claims Bartolomé Pérez.

Four out of ten adolescents report having a mental health problem.

The Rei Jaume I Prizes Valencian Foundation held a mental health conference at the Provincial Mental Health Hospital in Bétera, attended by over a hundred people just a few days before Mental Health Day in Spain.

The conference began with welcomes from Bétera’s mayor, Elia Verdevío, and Inma González, the Provincial Council of Valencia’s deputy for Social Welfare.

Following the opening speeches, Bartolomé Pérez, the Director General of Mental Health and Addictions at the Regional Ministry of Health, presented the Valencian Community’s Mental Health and Addictions Plan 2024-2027. For Pérez, ‘This will be worthless unless it is properly implemented among all citizens of the Community, regardless of their background.’

According to the Generalitat representative, ‘Working on prevention must be a universal right. It must be fundamental to everything because we can lose certain content, but we cannot lose what is essential. We must use schools as a fundamental tool for prevention, or we might as well give up,” he stressed. ‘Primary detection in schools is important. The fight against stigma is not won through street demonstrations; it is won through humanization. There should be absolute normalization,” he emphasized.

Bartolomé Pérez expressed concern about the risk of trivializing mental health and recalled that you cannot work in healthcare without connecting with other areas, such as education. He said that this plan had been drafted with this in mind and is aimed at neglected groups, such as children and adolescents.

The Director General of the Regional Ministry of Health stated that 646 jobs had been created, equivalent to 74% of those created so far, and he mentioned some of the actions taken, such as psychological support in difficult situations, day hospitals and specific plans for specific pathologies. Finally, Bartolomé Pérez concluded by expressing his gratitude to all the healthcare professionals who worked during the DANA, and asked, ‘What would have happened with the DANA if we hadn’t had those mental health services at the time?’

After the break, occupational psychologist Pilar del Pueblo resumed the session by stating that ‘mental health at work has become the main health issue in Spain.’

She pointed out that 34% of the Spanish population has some kind of mental health problem, with anxiety, depression and stress being the most common. She also stated that mental health issues are a leading cause of sick leave and increased absenteeism.

According to the specialist, two out of five people over the age of 15 are at risk of poor mental health. Mental health problems among workers are becoming more prevalent than in the rest of society. For example, up to 60% of the Spanish population indicate that their work causes them stress. The perception of work as a source of stress is increasing among the Spanish population,” she said.

Another issue she addressed was ‘the difficulties these patients encounter in their companies when it comes to working, such as the fear of revealing the problem, its potential impact on their career, and concealing absences, because the stigma and fear of being labelled as weak is so prevalent among workers.’ Consequently, 90% of workers do not mention it at work. She made a special mention of ‘the self-employed, who almost never take sick leave and suffer in silence’, she concluded.

To conclude the day’s proceedings, Luis Rojo, a psychiatrist at La Fe Hospital in Valencia, was in attendance. He believes that “publishing photos of minors by their parents can lead to mental health disorders in the adolescent”.

The doctor recalled that four out of ten adolescents report having experienced mental health problems, and 65% acknowledge having received a diagnosis. While mental health is increasingly being discussed, this may influence young people to view mild emotional distress as pathological, he said.

He explained that there has been an increase in mental health disorders reported by family doctors in three areas: sexual health, addiction and suicidal behavior.

“In terms of sexual health,” he began, “one in three people do not enjoy their sexuality. Early access to pornographic content at the click of a button on a mobile phone given to children at their First Communion means that, when they are curious, children turn to their phones.” He also denounced the fact that one in four young people consume violent pornography and that sex education fuels violence. He added that platforms such as ‘OnlyFans‘ lead to changes in young people’s beliefs and create expectations that frustrate them.

With regard to addictions, Dr Rojo argued that alcohol ranks first as it is not perceived as a health risk. This is followed closely by tobacco and cannabis, which can lead to mental health issues. Other emerging addictions are vaping and energy drinks, which are rarely discussed but are becoming increasingly popular among young people, particularly men, due to their candy flavors and high caffeine content. This consumption is associated with many problems, such as inattention and obesity. On top of that, they are heavily marketed. Another emerging addiction is that to ‘loot boxes‘ or gambling, which are virtual boxes that appear when you are playing and encourage you to keep betting, with a similar philosophy to betting boxes,” said Rojo.

“Admission due to suicide attempts is becoming a reality with this type of behavior, and people are being admitted at an increasingly younger age,” he said. “There is no doubt that there is a real wave of self-harming cases.”

The psychiatrist also mentioned other risk factors, such as social changes in family structure, including an increase in divorces and an increase in the age at which people have their first child. When the relationship between parents fails, or when parents are very old, communication becomes difficult. Finally, Rojo warned that ‘the digital world has changed the rules of the game and is changing the way we relate to the world. The more social media is used, the more depression, anxiety and ultimately suicide there can be. And behind all this,’ he emphasized, is cyberbullying and insomnia.’

The conference concluded with closing remarks by the president of the Foundation Javier Quesada and farewells from Clara Adsuara, Councilor for Social Affairs at Castellón City Council.

You can watch the entire conference on our YouTube page.

https://youtu.be/2V9RdKyDV3U