The Mental Health Federation of Castilla y León highlights the importance of bringing resources closer to the rural population
VALLADOLID, June 29 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The manager of the Castilla y León Mental Health Federation, Ángel Lozano de las Morenas, has warned of the “important impact” that “the misuse of ICT” and the “addiction to them” is having on the physical and mental health of patients. minors. “It is causing physical health problems as well as mental and emotional health problems,” he said.
Lozano de las Morenas has stated in statements to Europa Press that “the problem is an abusive use, a misuse and a problematic use of these technologies, and that is happening very frequently.” In addition, she has indicated that this problematic use “is also leading to problematic situations such as cyberbullying, situations of digital gender violence or situations of grooming.”
“The solution is education at all levels, education in school, education in the family, because many times we parents are the mirror of our children and this abuse is also coming from the elderly population,” stated the manager of the Castilla y León Mental Health Federation.
In this framework, Lozano has also stated that the Federation has been demanding for “many years” what they call a subject of emotional education. “I don’t know if it has to be a subject, but this is it, working on emotions in the classrooms, just as we work on issues that have to do with the environment, road safety or even sexuality.”
“What I would ask of those responsible and the educational administrations is that more investment must be made in the educational field, in this specific field that we are talking about. Invest more in promoting positive mental health in the classroom,” Lozano de las Morenas insisted.
On the other hand, Lozano has stressed that what he considers “important” is that from a young age children learn a series of tools to manage emotions, “to know that life is not what social networks are showing and selling today.”
“Social networks which, on the other hand, are where these minors are found and where they interact and, contrary to that reality that they are showing us as an ideal, idyllic, happy world, etc., we must educate or show that life is sometimes it is not simple,” explained Lozano de las Morenas.
On the other hand, the manager of the Mental Health Federation has highlighted the importance of “differentiating what really is a mental health problem and what may be emotional discomfort, which is not the same thing.”
“Today, the population, adolescents and young people face a world that is also very uncertain, very competitive, where we live very fast, where there are also many demands, and from this arise certain emotional discomforts,” said Lozano de las Morenas.
In this sense, he has insisted that “from there to becoming a mental health problem is another step. And obviously if the previous step does not support people, they are not accompanied in this discomfort or suffering, which is normally a temporary and temporary suffering, they are not provided with the necessary tools, then they can actually end up triggering a mental health problem.”
For this reason, the manager of the Federation of Mental Health of Castilla y León has explained the importance of “knowing how to identify emotions and that there are no good or bad emotions, but rather they are emotions in themselves that must be validated, identified and having to learn or acquire the necessary tools to be able to manage emotions.”
VISIBILITY AND AWARENESS
On the other hand, the manager of the Federation has stated that “today, the child and youth population is losing those prejudices that the adult population has about identifying mental health problems, about saying that they need or are going to psychological treatment.”
“Young people do not have prejudices, the same prejudices that the adult population has,” insisted Lozano de las Morenas, who pointed out that “the COVID pandemic has been like an opening, in many cases positive, towards finding solutions to mental health problems.”
In this sense, he highlighted that “many famous people have come out, in some cases influential people, people of reference for the population, where at some point they have openly and publicly expressed that they have suffered a mental health problem and that they are going or have gone to a professional, a psychologist or have needed to take some type of medication.
However, Lozano de las Morenas has pointed out that with regard to serious and chronic mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder or bipolar disorders, he believes that “there is still a long way to go and society still needs to get rid of certain taboos, certain prejudices and be more sensitive to these more serious and more complex mental disorders.”
RURAL ENVIRONMENT On the other hand, Ángel Lozano de las Morenas has stated that “it is more complicated to reach the population in rural areas in general” and has insisted on the need to “bring resources closer to where the people are and not have the people move to where the resources are”.
“It is not the same to talk about certain areas such as those that are considered emptied Spain or that are more isolated from urban environments, than other rural areas that are closer or that have other means,” explained Lozano de las Morenas, who has pointed out that “the difference lies in the resources that exist in urban environments and the resources that exist in rural environments.”
In this sense, he highlighted that the Federation has 21 delegations in rural areas with the objective of “bringing resources, in this case associative resources, closer to where people are in rural areas.” “Obviously, the resources and financing invested in an urban area, in terms of numbers, is more profitable, but the fact that you live in a rural environment does not make you less valuable for the services that must be guaranteed to you,” he added.
NEXT PROJECTS
Finally, the manager of the Federation has asserted that the next issue they will discuss is greater attention to mental health in work environments, where a “significant number” of sick leave is being recorded for this reason. “This is evident in the number of sick leave due to mental health problems,” said Lozano de las Morenas, who added that stress derived from work can lead to situations of anxiety and depression.
In this regard, he announced that the federation will work to raise awareness of this situation and to highlight the existing deficits in this area.
On the other hand, Lozano de las Morenas has highlighted the importance of suicide prevention, a public health problem that requires “a preventive approach.” “We want to raise awareness in society in general and in public administrations that suicide is one of the main public health problems,” he insisted.
The federation is developing a project on suicide prevention that covers training, analysis of the associative movement and work with risk factors, precipitating factors and protective factors. “In September we will have a specific suicide campaign,” announced Lozano de las Morenas, who added that the federation is carrying out a study with a specialized company to analyze which sectors suicide is having the most impact on.