Fedeafes is an organization of relatives and people with mental illness of the CAV, representing more than 3,000 families and more than 12,000 people. It consists of: Agifes, Asafes, Avifes and Asasam. Mental health problems in the child, adolescent and youth population of the CAPV. On October 18, he presented the study of needs and resources for care.

According to the researcher of the EDE Foundation Aymar Rubio, in charge of the technical execution of the study, "it is especially striking that the mental health services are receiving more and more consultations from the educational centers about the psychic problems of students under 9 years of age". On the other hand, the return to classrooms has led to an increase in cases of anxiety and depression, with suicide being the main cause of death among young people aged 15 to 29 years. According to Eustat, 76 children under 29 have died in the CAV between 2015 and 2020 in a traffic accident in which they committed suicide.

José Antonio De la Rica, Director of Socio-sanitary Coordination of the Department of Health of the Basque Government, comments on the vulnerability of the elderly and minors. According to De la Rica, outpatient consultations have increased considerably and more children and young people are being taken from the educational system to pediatrics. An increase in the frequency of access to emergency services has also been reported. It has also indicated an increase in the number of hospital admissions of minors and young people, as well as in the severity of cases and the degree of precocity of cases.

Fedeafes calls for continued attention to health services

Fedeafes' manager, María José Cano, has called on health services to provide ongoing care to minors and young people, which is not limited to critical situations. It has stressed the need to provide containment resources for minors and young people with behavioural problems, as well as training for education professionals so that they can respond effectively to warning symptoms of mental health problems.

Fedeafes' study points to the need to increase psychological support services and resources for children and young people. For this purpose, they have claimed the need for more professionals of psychology in public services. In addition, Cano has underlined the importance of strengthening the commitment to specialization in child and adolescent psychiatry and psychology, a subject that until recently had not been recognized as a specialty in the Spanish State, as Cano regretted in a statement.

In the educational sphere, the study shows the need for specialized support for minors with behavioral problems that prevent school delay and achieve effective responses in crisis situations. Cano has stated that it is necessary to “take care of the emotional environment of the classrooms and develop educational actions for teachers, so that they act with greater empathy and effectiveness with minors”. They have also identified the need to develop preventive actions related to mental health.

Among the main areas of attention is the specific approach of dual pathology and the realization of educational and awareness-raising actions in the classrooms to address the reality of suicide. It also detects the scarcity of resources for young people with mental disorders in social services and proposes the creation of leisure programs for young people in mental health associations.

Difficulties in reconciling employment and care by families

Fedeafes has insisted on the need for families of minors and young people with mental health problems also to have specific support, such as psychological and therapeutic assistance, to avoid mental confusion among them.

One of the families' main barriers is the difficulty to combine care work with employment. The study reveals that families normally have to leave their jobs, put an end to their professional aspirations or seek part-time work to care for children with mental health problems. For this reason, “a genuine effective conciliation must be achieved. This need is especially important in cases of emergency or after a crisis, when parents have to be with their children for a certain period of time,” said Cano.

Fedeafes' study also highlights that the support and empathy of the educational community are important, since sometimes these relatives are considered bad parents.