The Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP) has warned of the “absolute emergency” situation where the mental health of children and adolescents in the country is due to the increase in disorders that have been recorded in recent years, especially after the arrival of Covid-19.
“If before the pandemic the situation was already complicated, since approximately 10 percent of children and 20 percent of adolescents suffered from some type of mental disorder, The current scenario is one of absolute emergency, since the figure has shot up 47 percent since then“said the coordinator of the Mental Health Committee of the Spanish Pediatric Association, Paula Armero, during a press conference held in Madrid this Thursday.
Thus, from the AEP they assure that the Figures of mental illness among this sector of the population have not stopped growing in recent years and point out that 95 percent of pediatricians have detected it in their consultations, according to an analysis published in Anales de Pediatría.
Furthermore, Armero has stressed that these problems that occur in young people and adolescents are reflected in “symptoms of depression, eating disorders, self-harm, anxiety and behavioral changes”. As well as “the disorders derived from conflictive separations between parents,” he added.
However, what worries experts most at the moment are the bullying cases and through social networks. “Where minors spend the most time is in schools and institutes. If that environment is not safe, it greatly affects how they grow into adulthood,” explained Armero, while recalling that “minors need to be treated with respect by their own peers”.
For his part, the president of the Society of Child Psychiatry (SPI), Pedro J. Rodríguez, has expressed his concern with the cases related to the harassment through social networks. “The overuse of screens has caused important part of socialization of adolescents whether through social networks, which have replaced other types of social relationships. That feeling of impunity generated by being behind a screen means that cases tripled of harassment through social networks,” he stated.
“Every day we have more evidence that screens and networks are not used appropriately, but rather that they are abused“Armero added.
Manifesto to improve the situation
For all this, and under the motto ‘Pediatrics and mental health: building healthy futures’the 13,000 pediatricians that make up the AEP have wanted to make a call to action given the situation of child and adolescent mental health.
Thus, on the occasion of Pediatrics Day, which is celebrated on October 8, they have prepared a manifesto addressed to health, educational and social authorities and institutions in which they raise proposals to face this crisis and stop the increase in cases during the early stages of life.
In the manifesto, the AEP warns about the increase in these disorders, which it considers to be a emergency in professional consultations. To do this, they believe it is necessary to implement mental health prevention programs from the first levels of care.
They also consider that lack of specialized mental health professionals. “It is difficult to say a specific number of professionals needed in the specialty, but we estimate 20 percent more throughout Spain,” said Rodríguez.
In this sense, the vice president of Primary Care of the AEP, Guillermo Martín, has lamented that “patients, at least in Madrid, can have Waiting lists of between 6 and 9 months to be attended to for the first time.
Likewise, the manifesto calls for a multidisciplinary care; act in time due to the increase in the severity of the cases, and highlights the importance of the role of families in children’s mental health.
Recognition of pediatric specialties
The last point of the manifesto has to do with the recognition of pediatric specialties. At this point, the AEP points out that the recognition of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry as a specialty It has been “a step forward that responds to the evolution of scientific knowledge and the growing demand for care in this area.”
But they consider that it is “insufficient” to meet current challenges. “In Spain, pediatric specialty consultations have already been created that still do not have official recognition, despite the fact that the AEP has been claiming it for more than a decade,” they point out.
In this way, they emphasize that the lack of recognition It makes the adequate training of professionals and the organization of healthcare resources difficult, so “the procedures to achieve this officialization should be much more simplified.”
Currently the specialties of Neonatology, Intensive Care, Emergencies, Pediatric Endocrinology and Neurology have received the approval of the National Commission of the Specialty of Pediatrics to be recognized as Specific Training Areas (ACE), but they are still trying to achieve the favorable reports and economic studies of seven different autonomous communities established as a requirement by the Royal Decree 589/2022, of July 19, which regulates the transversal training of specialties in Health Sciences. Other pediatric disciplines are turning to alternative ways to achieve their official status through the continuing education diploma.
“Protect the physical and mental health of children and adolescents It is a priority on which we must all work together. We urge health authorities, health, educational and social service managers, and society as a whole, to support this cause and provide the necessary resources to build a healthy future for our next generations“, concluded the president of the AEP, Luis Carlos Blesa.