Eva Ruiz I Sevilla, (EFE) but it can be prevented.
This was stated, in conversation with EFE, by Dr. Federico Argüelles, general secretary of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Seville and coordinator of the conference “Mental health, pandemic and suicide”. That it is celebrated to publicize “important aspects of what is a public health problem”.
“It has a significant impact because, beyond the person who loses their life, they leave an indelible and permanent scar on the environment that surrounds them,” says Argüelles. Who highlights the “concern” of the health authorities in the face of an event that he considers “frequent”.
For this reason, it is committed to implementing prevention programs with better means for mental health. “Better instructing health professionals regarding this problem and raising awareness in society. To act in a way that facilitates this prevention”. In addition to increasing the per capita ratio of psychiatrists and psychologists, “less than in other countries and than would be desirable.”
loneliness of adolescents
The doctor, emeritus professor of Pediatrics at the University of Seville, points to the increase in cases in adolescents. And to the situations of loneliness that young people can feel as the cause behind “some underlying mental disorders.” Those who can be influenced by the feeling of “abandonment of the family”.
“They may be individuals who do not feel heard and cared for in their family environment and who do not manage their conflicts well at this stage of life. In which there is a major existential crisis of identification of his own personality. If they don’t manage it well, they may think that the solution is to take their own life, ”he emphasizes.
He warns that “it is very possible that they are not even aware of the irreversibility of death.” And he alludes to the “lack of knowledge” when managing his situation, which means “an emotional conflict”.
For Argüelles, contact with new technologies also influences these ages. That put them in positions “of misinformation or harmful information that can lead them to seek these drastic solutions to their problems.”
The effects of the pandemic
He has no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic and confinement have played a role in deteriorating mental health. Prevented from learning “tolerance strategies”. And, above all, led to the fact that “psycho-affective conflicts have not been well managed by people who have some genetic, hereditary or emotional background”.
All of this may have contributed to the increase in the figures that is becoming known in Spain. Still far from the rates of northern European countries. Therefore, he insists on maintaining awareness and “although things are being done, do even more, because the most interesting thing is that the authorities are aware of the need to act appropriately.”
“You have to use all the tools to avoid a fatal outcome,” says Argüelles. Who also pays attention to the importance of the role of the media in addressing this problem and its social treatment. In which he is in favor of “debunking some myths.”
He argues that “it has not been proven that there is a pull effect” and that, although it was previously said that talking about suicide could encourage it, “it seems that this is not the case”, for which he believes that prevention can be contributed “with a adequate treatment, disseminating help mechanisms for this type of problem”. EFE