Several young people will tell about their experience with mental illness at the URJC

The Journey 'Mental health and youth: ways to go' will present the testimonies of people between 18 and 25 years old who have suffered or suffer from some mental illness. Every day two cases of this type are diagnosed among young people of that age in Spain.

Raul Garcia Hemonnet

Mental pathologies among young people are one of the most unknown medical aspects. To make this type of situation visible and known, several young people are given the opportunity to talk about their life with mental illness and how they get ahead.

For Ángel Gil de Miguel, professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and presenter of the Conference, it is important to make the problem visible because "these pathologies can often lead to suicide in young people." For this reason, this symposium aims to "work on prevention and provide tools".

Gil de Miguel points out that "the testimonies of people who suffer or have suffered mental illnesses and who have come out ahead are of great value in raising awareness of this issue among young people."

In addition to the experiences of the boys and girls, the Conference will feature Celso Arango, from the Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health UCM-Hospital Gregorio Marañón, specializing in children and young people. Arango will convey to the attendees the importance of early attention when treating this type of ailment.

Every day two cases of mental illness are diagnosed among young people in Spain

According to Ángel Gil de Miguel, "we must publicize these situations." Every day two cases of mental illness are diagnosed in the age group between 18 and 25 years and, in addition, "it is expected that in 2050 depression will be the main cause of morbidity in the world", explains the professor.

Gil de Miguel places some of the causes of these pathologies among young people in our way of life "there are people who have a thousand friends on social networks and really do not have any real friendship and feel very alone".

The current type of leisure "based on alcohol" also leads to high numbers of young people with mental illness, says the professor, as well as "isolation, loneliness, closing in on oneself", situations often caused after suffering some type of bullying.

The event 'Mental health and young people: paths to follow' will be held on September 30, at 12:00, at the Quintana headquarters in Madrid. It is organized by the URJC and Jannsen, through the Chair of Health Management and Innovation, together with the Madrid Association of Relatives and Friends of People with Schizophrenia (AFAME), Madrid Salud and the Hospital Gregorio Marañón.