Data from a survey prepared by Unicef Spain with the University of Santiago places suicidal ideation in adolescents at 10.8%
Half of mental health disorders begin at the age of 14 and 15% of Spanish adolescents have “severe or moderately severe” symptoms of depression, according to data collected by Unicef Spain, on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, which It is celebrated this Monday.
The data, which belongs to a survey carried out by Unicef Spain with the University of Santiago on a sample of 40,000 adolescents, places suicidal ideation in Spanish adolescents at 10.8%.
While half of the disorders begin by age 14, 75% develop by age 24, but most go undetected and therefore untreated.
For the executive director of Unicef Spain, José María Vera, these data urge action “because they are not cold figures on mental health, they are children and adolescents who deserve to be heard but to improve their emotional well-being and end taboo and stigma, it is necessary to invest more in this segment of the population”.
Vera values the investment in mental health contemplated in the latest General State Budgets and the launch of the 024 suicide hotline, but emphasizes the need to provide more resources for the 2022-24 Mental Health Action Plan for the childhood and adolescence.
“From Unicef Spain we ask for a joint and determined commitment,” said its executive director.
He also insists on breaking the stigma that exists around mental health and acknowledges that although progress has been made in recent years “negative beliefs still persist that can lead people not to ask for the help they need”.
On the occasion of this World Day, Unicef Spain has released a video in which adolescents such as Gorka and Irene, aged 11 and 13, address the group of their age to those who ask that in the face of symptoms of depression or anxiety they turn to trusted people and ask for help because if you have a mental health problem you will not be able to solve it on your own.
They recognize in the video that there can be many triggers: “school problems, bullying, wanting to fit in with society or seeking to be perfect” and facing all this implies seeking professional help.
One of the points in which Unicef highlights is the need to reinforce the role of educational centers through the welfare and protection coordinator, a figure that has begun to operate this school year.
The Madrid College of Psychologists also denounces the lack of psychologists in hospitals, health centers, health and community services, and schools, and calls for the incorporation of 7,900 more clinical psychologists into the National Health System to achieve a ratio of 20 x 100,000 inhabitants.
This measure would mean a significant saving in current expenses in mental health, they point out from the College of Psychologists.
According to this organization, one in three Spaniards has a probable case of anxiety and one in four of depression, but also some 400,000 people, preferably children and adolescents, suffer from eating disorders and one in ten students has been a victim of bullying. school.
With these figures, the College of Psychologists demands a public health policy that contemplates mental health in a rigorous, comprehensive and comprehensive manner and maintains that increasing the budget in this area represents a clear investment in the medium and long term.