VALLADOLID 11 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
This Friday, the Intras Foundation celebrated the 30th anniversary of its birth in which, according to the general director of the Foundation, Pablo Gómez, progress and improvements have been achieved in mental health and at the level of social inclusion, although he has placed special emphasis in that there is much to do, with the specific challenge of working to avoid stigma. “We have to make it easy for those who have it more difficult.”
This is one of the messages that Gómez conveyed at the institutional event to commemorate the 30 years of the Intras Foundation in which he insisted that we must differentiate between mental health and serious mental illness regarding which “there are still many things to do” because “there is still a lot of stigma.
“Severe mental illness produces elements that are disruptive with what the rest of society thinks we expect from a person, such as clothing, the way of expressing oneself, adapting environments, and there is still a lot to work on,” he said. explained by way of example.
Gómez added that mental illness continues to have patterns that require research and advances both in the clinical and biomedical field as well as in the social field and has advocated continuing to work on aspects that allow these people to be connected and integrated and avoid loneliness. and the isolation that this disease produces, along with the importance of creating opportunities for both training and work integration.
“It is possible, life projects can be recovered and the person can develop as a person beyond the label of the diagnosis they have,” claimed the general director who also highlighted the “very important role” of the media as “key link” in the work carried out by organizations and institutions in the fight against the stigma of serious mental illness and so that society can be “increasingly sensitive and more inclusive.”
For her part, Beatriz Hernández, member of the Intras Foundation Board of Trustees, has stressed the necessary awareness about suicide, a reality that is “worrying”, especially among young people, and that has urged it to be solved “in some way, as possible.” and as far as possible.”
“Don’t keep quiet,” Hernández has also advised, calling for the involvement of the entire society from the conviction that if everyone did their part, “another rooster would crow.”
In this sense, the mayor of Valladolid, Jesús Julio Carnero, who was in charge of opening the anniversary gala, has called for “getting to work” to stop the “serious incidence” of suicides and has reported that In the campaign that began in May in the city’s youth spaces, 21 children have been assisted “in complex situations of this type.”
On the other hand, the general director of the Intras Foundation has taken advantage of this celebration to demand “more budget and more support” from both administrations, society and companies.
Finally, Pablo Gómez has insisted on working to ensure that the desires of people who have it most difficult due to suffering from a chronic illness such as mental illness “can also develop their dreams”, as he claimed to the Intras Foundation at the gala celebrating this 30th anniversary in which he has presented around twenty awards to representatives of different sectors of Castilian and Leonese society, among them the president of the Junta de Castilla y León, Alfonso Fernández Mañueco, who has collected the award “with great affection, respect , commitment and gratitude”.
“We thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” said Fernández Mañueco, who expressed the pride of the Government of Castilla y León in the work, the effort and the trajectory of the Intras Foundation in its three decades of existence, which, as he predicted, “will to be many more” and in which this organization will continue to count on the collaboration of the regional government.
Fernández Mañueco has estimated the money “invested” at more than 14 million euros, he added, by the Board to help people who have difficulties and has reiterated: “They are very well invested.”
The president of the Board has described the Intras Foundation as currently having centers in six provinces of Castilla y León (Valladolid, Zamora, Salamanca, Burgos, Palencia and Ávila) and in the Community of Madrid, to which He added that he works as a network with entities throughout Europe through the development of projects.
“Your participation has been, is and will be fundamental in a shared history and we have to continue working on it,” concluded the head of the regional Executive who confirmed that the Board will present the Mental Health Strategy “soon” to continue improving the care through public services”.
Mari participated in the gala and recounted her personal experience to remember that she lived some moments in her life in which she was “in darkness” and that means that at 49 years old she was “born again”, after which she thanked and highlighted the professional work which is done at the Intras Foundation and which has been personalized by Nacho, the “spectacular” spectacular music teacher who does “wonders” with them.
“It made the noise go away in my head,” he stated, adding that he loves the Intras workers with all his soul because thanks to them he has had the “will to live.”