The one in La Seda, in Murcia, will also serve patients from Abanilla and Fortuna, and the Short Psychiatric Hospitalization Unit in La Arrixaca will increase places
The mental health pandemic, which is punishing adolescents and children in the Region with special virulence, will be addressed with more resources and new prevention strategies. The ministries that have something to contribute to overcome the marked deterioration since the start of the pandemic – Education, Health and Social Policy – yesterday held the first meeting of the Mental Health Commission, which will coordinate the actions and the increase in resources. Among them, the launch of two new mental health centers that will be a reference for adolescents and children, and that should begin to provide service this year. These are those of La Seda, which will serve patients from the metropolitan area VI of Murcia and Abanilla and Fortuna; and that of El Palmar, which will also serve the minors of Alcantarilla. In addition, the mental health services for minors in San Andrés, in Murcia, and the nine health areas throughout the Region that provide coverage for children and adolescents will continue to function.
Teachers of schools and institutes will have a suicide and self-harm prevention guide
The Short-Term Infant and Juvenile Psychiatric Hospitalization Unit of La Arrixaca will also increase its capacity to care for minors. The implementation of these new resources must go hand in hand with the hiring of personnel, since the units are made up of psychiatrists, clinical psychologists and social workers, specialties with a shortage of professionals. The president of the Community, Fernando López Miras, did not specify yesterday the depth of the increase in personnel, but he wanted to make it clear that the list of professionals will increase to pay attention “to this silent pandemic that has increased mental health problems and that the Government The regional government is going to face what is one of the greatest challenges in health and social care of the 21st century”.
Prevention Guide
-
Personality traits that predispose to suicide
Low self-esteem, lack of control, intolerance to frustration, hopelessness, shyness, impulsiveness, aggressiveness or violence, passivity, dependency, obsession, anxiety and anger, sensitivity to criticism from others, lack of social skills. -
Socio-family risk factors
Loss or separation of important people. Loss of employment, study opportunities, home, economic situation or fear that it will get worse. Family dysfunction, with a lot of hostility, conflict and rigidity. Loss of health, prolonged medical treatment and hospitalizations. Isolation, absence or loss of a supportive social network. Problems with the law or regulations, prison. Rejection of sexual orientation. Misaligned expectations of the family. Relationship problems with other people such as gender violence, harassment or intimidation. Traumatic experiences caused by violence, physical or psychological abuse and/or sexual abuse. Exposure to the suicide of another person. Features associated with the digital environment. -
Non-verbal warning signs
Neglect of personal appearance. Increased physical complaints that are often associated with emotional distress. Sudden changes in the student’s behavior. Rejection of the usual collective activities. Appearance of predominant feelings of sadness, disinterest or indifference. Concern about death. Inappropriate flight and escape behaviors. Clear tendency to isolate from family and friends. Behaviors of giving away or giving away valued objects. Suddenly closing, deleting or dismissing profiles they had been using on different social networks. Consumption of alcohol or other toxic substances. -
Action phases
Knowledge of the situation: Any teacher who is aware of a situation of suicidal ideation and/or self-harm must inform the management team of the center, which will designate a team of professionals to deal with the case. Communication to the family: The person in charge of the team must contact the family so that they can go to the educational center. Referral to health services. It is not the responsibility of the teaching staff to carry out a clinical examination of the state in which the student is, but to assess the general context in which suicidal ideation appears in order to be guided towards appropriate decision-making. Guidance services will complete the referral report model for exploration in Health. Other circumstances. When the situation can be associated with other circumstances, such as bullying, inappropriate use of networks or possible abuse, other protocols will be activated. Information to the Observatory for School Coexistence and the Education Inspection. Request for specialized advice. Follow-up: actions with the student, with the reference group, with the center and with the family. Evaluation and closure of the protocol.
The commission, made up of technical profiles, such as pedagogues, psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers, among others, is finalizing a strategy based on four axes: the socio-health, the exclusively health, the educational field focused on the youngest, and the mental health in sport.
The educational centers of the Region will designate a welfare and protection coordinator to deal with cases of risk
The strategy focuses a large part of its efforts on providing a better response to the mental health emergency that adolescents, young people and children have been experiencing since the start of the pandemic. The device is based on two measures: better coordination between all the professionals and resources involved in the emotional well-being of minors and specific training for teachers and teachers, who are often the first to deal with problems.
Teachers will have to carry out this first attention of the ‘Suicide Prevention Guide (actions in educational centers)’ presented yesterday, and which includes the designation of a welfare and protection coordinator in the centers. The guide provides information prepared and written by professionals from the Ministries of Health and Education so that teachers in schools and institutes are able to identify the risk factors among their students, locate the warning signs (verbal and non-verbal), evaluate each case that arises, be able to collect all the information and know what steps to follow at all times.
The document details the personality and socio-family traits that predispose to suicide, and breaks down the warning signs that teachers and families should be aware of. The Community starts from the consideration of the group of minors and adolescents as of special vulnerability. López Miras explained that “we must make an effort to create safer environments, in which direct care professionals and family associations are a true protective agent.” The Ministry of Social Policy will expand the capacities to detect the needs of minors with self-harming ideas, will promote the training of social intervention professionals and will reinforce support for families with minors at risk.
The College of Psychologists, for its part, once again called for the suitability of professionals from this group to have a greater presence in the classroom.
Group sessions to avoid drug treatments
The strategy contemplates a “pioneering” project that will encourage mental health specialists to travel to health centers to carry out group sessions with patients detected with mild anxiety or depression problems (in this case adults), “before prescribing treatment pharmacological”.
The birth of the Regional Mental Health Commission yesterday coincided with the celebration of World Health Day, a date on which the regional government wanted to convey its “recognition and gratitude to the health professionals who have protected us and have made us today closer to the normality that we miss so much ».
#mental #health #centers #children #adolescents #strengthen #care #minors #Region