León calls for decent employment and a positive work environment for mental health

One in three people suffers from a mental health problem, a circumstance that is more common in women than in men and that increases with age, according to the latest annual report of the National Health System 2023.

World Mental Health Day, celebrated every October 10, focused this year on the obstacles to accessing work for people with mental health problems and the work environments that theoretically impact the population. “fury”.

In León, dozens of people took to the streets to demand more resources and less stigma for mental health to the rhythm of traditional Leonese music from Plaza de Guzmán to the Cathedral.

“Stigma implies that we are isolated and left aside in society and when it comes to working,” said the manifesto of the Mental Creation collective that was read by several people at the end of the march.

Under the motto ‘Mental health and work, a fundamental link’, the groups and institutions gathered around Mental Creation claim work as a form of healing and integration, without forgetting that jobs that are not adapted can lead to failure.

“We are people and we have the same labor rights as other people,” they warned business owners. “Being busy helps us integrate, empowers us and improves our self-esteem,” they noted to emphasize that “every day we fight with ourselves and we don’t want to have to also fight with the rest of the people.”

In this sense, they denounced that “there are jobs of very low quality or that are simply unpaid. “Jobs that are not usually appropriate to the problems we have.” «We are very brave and with many capabilities. Be strong and do not give up in the face of difficulties. “Courage, comrades!” concluded the proclamation read by several people.

The march took place in a festive spirit with a display of creative banners with slogans such as “Join in, don’t subtract”, carried by José Luis, a user of the San Juan de Dios Psychosocial Rehabilitation Center in Valmartino.

Mental illness “is not sufficiently recognized,” says this 65-year-old man, whose crisis left him unemployed and the death of his father exacerbated it this summer. “Now I’m alone.” Four days a week he goes to the center and is on the road to recovery.

«I have been a Santa Isabel nurse for two years. From here, where I arrived by chance, I know their day-to-day life,” said Álvaro, raising a motto that alludes to the naturalness of emotions: “It’s okay if you cry, the onions tell you so.”

Stigma is what he believes needs to be broken down more vigorously in society. “You don’t know them and you don’t give them a chance,” he emphasizes. Physical health is more recognized. We are clearer about what can happen. Mental illness sometimes begins in a more insidious way,” says this professional from the Ecai of the Santa Isabel psychiatric hospital. Their job is to help people who come to this service “when they are in an acute phase, help them put themselves back in their place” because, as another banner said, “I am just like you” or “look at me, I am not different.” .

“We demand support and means when working because people with mental health problems have many difficulties in carrying out their work,” said Alba Laso González, from the CPRS San Juan de Dios.

The message of World Mental Health Day in León was also directed to the general population. «We are not exempt from suffering some type of problem at some point. More and more are demanded of us, we live in a very competitive society and it is necessary to take care of mental health,” he commented. That companies actively include mental health protection in their risk prevention and occupational health plans is a pending issue.

Francisco Rodríguez, head of Mental Health of the León health area, highlighted that “work is part of the rehabilitation, normalization and integration” of people with mental health problems. Rodríguez emphasized the work of companies and non-profit entities that offer jobs to people with mental health problems, such as Alfaem, Ilunion, Soltra or Sifu. “We increasingly have more possibilities of finding jobs adapted for people with mental health problems or intellectual disabilities or both,” he said.

“The work shows that these people are active, useful and contribute their grain of sand to society,” he stressed. Leaving behind the image that “mental illness leaves you out of place or even that people who suffer from it are lazy and thugs is essential, because it is being shown that this is not the case and there are many possibilities.” he added. The work, he concluded, “gives these people many opportunities and makes their life worth living despite their disability.”

Regarding the incidence of mental health problems due to working conditions, he pointed out that “a job with inadequate conditions generates mental health problems.” That is why he advocated for an adaptation of positions and prevention work “so that mental health problems do not grow.”

The Councilor for Social Welfare, Vera López, pointed out that “it should not be just today that society remembers a problem that one in four people suffers or will suffer throughout their lives.” Regarding the central theme of the World Day, the right to work together with mental health, he pointed out that it must be demanded “not only for people who are experiencing a mental health problem, but also in reducing stress and promoting working conditions.” suitable.” López praised the entities that employ people with disabilities due to mental health problems, although he recalled that “we are talking about a group that has the highest rate of unemployment in disabilities.”

Also present at the demonstration were the delegate of the Board, Eduardo Diego, and the manager of Social Services, Juan Antonio Orozco. “We like to accompany the entities that do the work on a daily basis,” he said when evaluating the work of the five Mental Creation entities. The day concluded with a salsa workshop and messages on a giant blank page in which there was no shortage of humor. “May God catch us medicated!”