According to , 12.5% of the world population (1 in 8 people) suffers from some type of mental disorder and 25% will have it at some point in their lives.
According to , between 2.5% and 3% of the adult population suffers from a severe mental disorder, which represents more than one million people in Spain.
And there is a worrying fact: more than half of the people with mental disorders who need treatment do not receive it. This is because these types of disorders still carry the stigma of suffering from them.
This is clear from the demographic study entitled “”, which reveals that practically all Spaniards (97%) believe that mental illnesses are associated with a stigma that negatively influences patients when they consider the possibility of seeking professional help.
In addition, 2 out of 3 Spaniards (64%) consider that admitting that they have a mental problem tends to generate shame and 33% think that the information about mental illnesses is still insufficient.
Fortunately, mental disorders are becoming increasingly visible, which is observed in the high percentage, 57% of respondents, who think it is necessary to end the stigma that accompanies these pathologies.
The percentage of Spaniards who believe that people suffering from mental illness can lead a normal life is also very large, and 8 out of 10 (78%) consider that these illnesses should not be hidden.
Only 7% of the Spanish population thinks that mental health problems should be hidden and only 3% believe that they are invented diseases.
Trust in treatments
The reluctance of many people to take medication to help their psychological health or to see a psychologist or psychiatrist continues to be a reality. But changes are also being detected in this.
According to the study promoted by the company Viatris, the majority of Spaniards (74%) believe that both it and the psychotherapeutic are effective and useful to deal with most psychiatric pathologies.
This, “is a very positive fact, since the cure of mental illnesses is closely related to the trust in the specialist and the adherence that is given to the treatment” points out the psychiatrist Luis Gutierrez Rojas, from
When asked about the most well-known mental disorders, almost half of those surveyed (48%) mentioned first those that affect mood, such as depression.
They are followed by serious and incurable diseases such as schizophrenia (32%) and, in third place, stress-related diseases, such as (15%).
What is the response of the National Health System to mental health?
During the pandemic, more and more cases related to mental health problems began to appear. And health professionals and the health system have had to face them. Are you getting it?
Well, from the responses to this survey, the assessment made of the professionals, the data indicates a marked polarization. While 36% indicate that it is adequate, 33% consider that it is not, and 31% do not have an opinion on it.
More coincidences are observed when it comes to evaluating the quality of the National Health System regarding the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses. 27% value this attention positively, 31% say they do not have an opinion on the matter, while the majority group, 41% of those surveyed, consider that the National Health System does not pay good attention to mental pathologies.
What do we know about mental illness?
One of the problems that cause social stigma towards diseases is the lack of knowledge about them that people have. In this regard, 80% of Spaniards believe that the origin of mental illnesses is very complex, since they are influenced by psychological, biological and social factors. And half consider that these are subjective diseases and very difficult to treat.
But every time we want to know about them, so that almost half of Spaniards declare that they have searched for information on mental health on the Internet, especially those under 35 years of age (69%) and people with university studies (47%).
The most used digital media are professional blogs/websites (57%), followed by blogs/websites whose origin is unknown to the user (47%) and scientific or professional social media accounts specialized in mental health (40%). .
The Dr. Rosa Molinaa psychiatrist at the San Carlos University Hospital in Madrid, explains that “mental illnesses are current issues that have a great impact on the population.”
But the specialists warn that care must be taken because “the most appropriate information is not always disseminated; in many cases people grant credibility to messages coming from people not only with little specialized training, but with absolute scientific ignorance on these matters”.
In this sense, the doctor Miguel Angel Alvarez de Mona psychiatrist at the Infanta Leonor University Hospital and professor at the University of Alcalá, emphasizes that:
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“I am very concerned that, especially young people, they do not know how to discern that a professional has much more authority and credibility on health issues (and in this case, mental health) than any Internet user who decides to publish content on mental health.”
Should one talk about suicide?
According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), between January and June of last year, it was the leading external cause of death, with 4,003 deaths, 1.6% more than in 2020.
Given these data, the study also includes some questions about this cause of death, and the results show that 90% of those surveyed are in favor of suicide being dealt with in the media, although one in 6 warns that it has to be done properly.
Álvarez de Mon recalled that the number of suicides in Spain is 108 times higher than that of victims of gender violence, and almost 2.5 times more than those killed in traffic accidents.
“However, the presence of suicides in the media is very scarce. We have to think that it is difficult to make the population aware of a subject if it is hidden from them. Problems are not solved by covering them up”.