Mental health is taking place in social networks, in colloquial conversations and even in the media. Are things changing?
It seems that interest in mental health is gradually increasing. The pandemic has jeopardized our resources to deal with disasters, it has been a challenge. Lately there have been several famous people who have made their experiences known and that also helps to start talking about the issue.

The whole of society has experienced a “traumatic” moment, the epidemic, the closure and all the consequences it has had. The need to care for mental health is highlighted... The
pandemic has had a great emotional impact, but it is a normal reaction to an anomalous situation we live in. The challenge is to find a balance in the short term, assuming that it is normal to have unpleasant emotions. Most people will be able to move forward, but some groups are more at risk and need more help.

For example?
The case of adolescents is worrisome. In Pandemia, mental health problems have increased among them, as well as associated incomes. Most importantly, anorexia, suicidal tendencies, and anxiety. Isolation has had a special incidence, as face-to-face relationships are the fundamental basis of the well-being and development of adolescents.

Are there differences between women and men in the diagnosis of mental illness?On the one hand, the way to cope with difficulties is culturally different between genders, and as women need more help than men, they receive more diagnoses, such as depression and anxiety. In addition, the condition of women is directly related to other risk factors: poverty, precariousness, greater burden of care...

It talks about the relationship that mental health can have with the economic situationmica.Estit is clear that poverty, precariousness and insecurity due to the dissatisfaction of the most basic needs
increase the chances of developing mental problems. Decent living conditions for mental health must be guaranteed, with social protection measures.

Although the root problem can be collective, it often lives in silence, secrecy and solitary.
There are those who feel that they cannot share their problems with others because they fear rejection or because they fear not being understood. But social protection and support networks are fundamental to our well-being. We have to start breaking the taboos.

If we're not able to share what happens to trusted people, how are we going to ask for professional help?
We still find it difficult to ask for help, there is a great stigma associated with mental health. Care for the psychologist is not as accepted as going to the doctor, and often the request for help is delayed until the problem becomes more complex. It has to be said, however, that the situation is gradually changing. Young people find it less difficult to go to the psychologist, talk about it more normally and support each other.

Is public health prepared to provide the necessary support?
The number of psychologists and psychiatrists is lower than the European average. Professionals are saturated, waiting lists are long and the frequency between sessions is not the most appropriate either. The consequence is that too much is medicalised to alleviate the discomfort, and often the problem is not solved. In public health, more psychologists are needed.

Some concrete messages are repeated over and over again: for example, if we think positively, we will be able to achieve everything queramos.Es true that observing the positive aspects of different situations can be constructive when
facing difficult times. But that message has been exaggerated and distorted. We cannot achieve everything we want with only a positive attitude, because not everything is in our hands. This message individualizes the problem. Not only that, it makes us responsible for what happens to us, it makes us feel guilty.

Can that extreme positivity be a disguise to hide emotions?
In this sense, we lack education. All emotions are normal and adaptive, they inform us and help us make decisions. We must identify, recognize and accept each of them to fulfill their function n.Est well that we are bad when unpleasant things happen to us, it takes time to recover the balance. We can't always be fine.

What socially entrenched attitudes and approaches do you consider necessary to change?Sometimes
we talk about depression, anxiety, or OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) to explain that we are sad or nervous or that we have mania. These expressions feed stigmas and prejudices related to mental disorders and drive us away from empathy. Another thing is the romantic or idealization that is broadcast in series, films and the Internet with respect to mental disorders. We're not that aware of that.