Four out of every ten adolescents in Spain claim to have had or believe they have had a mental health problem in the last two months, according to a study carried out by UNICEF Spain and the University of Seville.
The report, titled Mental health is a matter for children and adolescents was presented this Tuesday around World Mental Health Day (which will be on October 10), reflects that, of that 41%, more than 1 in 3 adolescents have not spoken to anyone about these problems and more than half have not asked for any type of help. “Many adolescents feel that they are alone in their struggles, that no one is going to understand them, and this leads them to think that they must solve it themselves,” said Alae, 15 years old, member of the UNICEF Spain Advisory Group. More girls (69.1%) than boys (58.5%) consider that talking about their worries and feelings is an element that improves mental health.
Among the most important external determinants to promote mental health identified by the adolescents themselves, the good relationship with their parents (82.6%), the support of close people (82%) and doing the things that they like and make them feel stand out. good (78.6%). Among the internal factors, they rated sleeping habits (74.9%), physical exercise (62.3%) and eating a balanced diet (50.6%) in first place.
On the other hand, factors that affect their self-esteem, such as bullying or cyberbullying, are perceived as the most harmful to mental health, especially by girls. In this sense, as external determinants they point out being a victim of bullying or cyberbullying (80.1%) and having family problems (77%). Girls feel more pressure to have a certain physique: 73.5% believe that this affects them a lot or a lot, compared to 50.8% of boys. Adolescents highlight as harmful internal determinants having low self-esteem (68%), consuming alcohol and/or other drugs (66%), having physical health problems (58.5%) and having economic difficulties (56.7%). %).
You feel that if you don’t ‘play along’ with them you won’t belong to their group and you will continue to be alone. This is accentuated with social networks. It is important to fit in, but we must learn to build that autonomy that allows us to say no.
“It is critical that all services be strengthened, of course on the healthcare side, but in a special way in early detection, in prevention,” said José María Vera, executive director of UNICEF Spain. The adolescents who have attended the presentation of the report have indicated that the place where they spend most of the day is the school and that it is essential that the importance of the figure of the counselor or the well-being coordinator be highlighted (a figure that It does not always exist in all centers). “I am in an institute with 1,650 students and we only have one counselor,” said José Ángel (17 years old), member of the UNICEF Spain Advisory Group.
They have also talked about the social pressures they experience: “In society there are many prejudices and social pressures, such as drugs or partying. These are things that today continue to be generalized as normal in adolescence, despite the fact that there is a portion of adolescents who perhaps prefer to read a book or stay at home. You feel that if you don’t ‘play along’ with them you won’t belong to their group and you will continue to be alone. This is accentuated with social networks. It is important to fit in, but we have to learn to build that autonomy that allows us to say no.”
Only three in ten believe that social networks harm their mental health
Regarding social networks, whose use by adolescents is widespread, only three out of ten believe that using a mobile phone harms their mental health. Despite this, 32% say they have felt the need to show a perfect and problem-free life in the online world, even if it is not true. More than twice as many girls (34.3%) as boys (13.3%) compare themselves to people who show perfect lives.
More than half perceive platforms such as Twitter/X (56.3%), TikTok (55.4%) and Instagram (52.1%) as “very” or “fairly” dangerous for mental health. On the other hand, a significant proportion of boys and girls do not consider Twitch, Snapchat, WhatsApp or YouTube to be dangerous.
“Social networks are useful, but we have to learn to use them. Why don’t we introduce dynamics in schools to learn how to use a social network? To prevent before curing. If you teach us from a young age to use them, you will save us the entire negative path of experimentation,” the young people have mentioned. “There must not only be education towards adolescents, but also towards fathers, mothers, educators… To know how to interact with them about their use of social networks. And we need to demand much more responsible behavior from companies and platforms, as they have a long way to go,” stated the organization’s executive director.
The perceived danger of social networks for the development of mental health problems depends on the network or platform and, as age increases, adolescents perceive these risks more. More than half perceive platforms such as Twitter/X (56.3%), TikTok (55.4%) and Instagram (52.1%) as “very” or “fairly” dangerous for mental health. On the other hand, a significant proportion of boys and girls do not consider Twitch, Snapchat, WhatsApp or YouTube to be dangerous for their mental health.
Four out of ten young people consider it useful to read news on social networks to inform themselves about mental health problems, and 1 in 3 claim to have found useful resources for their mental health through social networks.
Stigma around mental health is reducing
“Boys have less prejudices than previous generations,” said Pilar Ramos, researcher at the University of Seville and co-author of the report. The results show a normalization of these situations. Almost 8 in 10 say they would be friends with someone their age who is visiting or has visited a mental health professional.
In general, negative beliefs about these types of situations are not widespread among adolescents, the study points out. Perception changes when you ask about adults. Approximately half of adolescents (47%) believe that adults think that those who suffer from mental health problems are very sensitive and should be treated with great care so as not to upset or anger them.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder, followed by self-harm or suicide attempts and schizophrenia, are those perceived most negatively by young people and on which even more stereotypes fall. On the other hand, eating disorders and depression show the lowest percentages of prejudice.
UNICEF Spain, in light of these results, has indicated as solutions to strengthen detection and prevention programs and services and mental health care for children and adolescents; improve understanding of the problem; promote initiatives in schools, understood as protective centers for awareness or training to be able to detect problems and know how to address them; support families through training, recommendations or support networks; promote active listening and participation of the children and adolescents themselves; increased awareness by the media; and promote a digital space in the key of emotional well-being.
For her part, Alae, one of the young women, agrees that, indeed, administrations and educational centers implement awareness-raising strategies, such as workshops and talks, “but that they be dynamic: that it is not the same thing that everyone repeats to us.” the years with the projection of a presentation.” He has also called for greater promotion of physical activity, such as organizing outdoor events that encourage “not being locked up looking at a mobile device”; increase counselors in institutes; and offer families workshops so that they can understand what happens to adolescents at this stage.