The pandemic brought with it a increase in mental disorders in the general population but, above all, among adolescents. As a positive effect, covid-19 made visible the mental health and helped break some of the taboo that still surrounds it. However, as psychologists and psychiatrists warn, “The ‘I’m terrible’ has become widespread”. And, as a consequence, sometimes they come to adolescent consultations with a puberty discomfort believing they have a mental illness. Two thirds of Catalan adolescents who have made a suicide attempt They did not have any mental disorder.
Two-thirds of minors who made a suicide attempt did not have any disorder, professionals warn
“There is always talk of adolescent discomfort, but there are surveys that say that two thirds of minors in Catalonia feel well. There are many healthy adolescents who do not feel this discomfort. You have to start disengage from the idea that all adolescence is sick”, points out Montse Pamias, head of the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service of the Parc Taulí Hospital in Sabadell. Pàmias believes that, although it is positive to talk about mental health, sometimes there is a risk of “banalize it.” “We cannot think that everything is mental illness,” he adds.
This situation, furthermore, impacts mental health services. “We are receiving many discomforts of daily life. Here they should only arrive the most serious cases [depresiones, hiperactividad, esquizofrenia] but, since 2020, we are finding a increase in demand by adolescents with emotional distress that They do not have a psychiatric pathology”, says Pàmias.
“Since 2020, there has been an increase in demand for adolescents with emotional distress who do not have a psychiatric pathology”
Head of the Child and Youth Mental Health Service of Parc Taulí
These are discomforts, experts point out, that should be resolved at school, with friends, in the family. “A drug does not solve these situations. We cannot psychiatize the discomfort of daily life,” she points out, concerned about the increased consumption of psychotropic drugs in the Catalan child and youth population in recent years (25% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to Salut data). Even so, it specifies that, in some diagnoses, Psychotropic drugs are “essential.”
“Emotional discomfort is part of life. We cannot psychiatize it”
Clinical psychologist at Parc Taulí in Sabadell
According to the clinical psychologist at the Parc Taulí suicidal behavior unit, Joaquim Puntí, the pandemic caused a uptick in self-harming, suicidal behaviors and eating disorders (ED). “Since then the idea has permeated society that Most adolescents experience discomfort. Our message is that emotional distress is typical of life. It is not the same as a mental health problem and we cannot psychiatize him. We must teach the population to develop tools”, defends Puntí.
A “very high” volume of adolescents who consult mental health services do so for “nonspecific emotional distress.” “I have patients who tell me: ‘I come here because I want to be happy.’ Real life also involves having bad moments and knowing how to manage them. Many times these adolescents need to have the most scheduled day and do activities that help them feel good and that they are part of a group,” says this clinical psychologist.
Puntí believes that society is partly responsible for this phenomenon because cultural products aimed at adolescents address in a way that is sometimes exaggerated emotional discomfort. That’s why this message has resonated so much with them. “The Serie ’13 Reasons Why’ in 2017 sends you the message of adolescent suicide [un mes y medio después de esta serie, se incrementaron en un 27% las búsquedas en Google sobre cómo cometer suicidio]. In other series like ‘Blue summer’ Suicide and depression were not as present. The stories we adults make about teenagers are very negative,” she reflects.
“Excessive reactions”
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And it puts the focus on another figure: in two-thirds of adolescent suicide attempts, professionals do not find a mental illness, but instead see that there has been a “overreaction” to a certain situation, such as a breakup or anger with friends. “Mental illness exists and is a risk factor, but there is a portion of adolescents who make consultations not because they have an illness, but because they have a poor coping with the situation”, Puntí adds.
As the psychiatrist explains Iria Dominguez, president of the Catalan Association of Mental Health Professionals, frequently They “medicalize” many ailments. “You have had an anxiety crisis and you think you have to go to the doctor. And if you go to the doctor, there is a greater risk that they will give you medication. The tendency is to give quick answers,” assures Domínguez, who although he considers that medication can be “very helpful” in some specific moments, “It is not the solution to the problems.” “It is more interesting for that child or adolescent to feel understood and accompanied by their environment,” he says.