Spain presents plan to address mental health problems caused by Covid

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, today presented together with the Minister of Health, Carolina Darias, the new Action Plan 2021-2024 Mental Health and COVID-19, in a ceremony held on the occasion of World Mental Health Day.

In his speech, Pedro Sánchez has shelled some data on mental health in Spain.

According to him, 10.8% of the Spanish population have consumed tranquilizers, relaxants or sleeping pills and 4.5% have taken antidepressants or stimulants in the last few days. Those figures "say a lot about the health of our society and its structural problems," he stressed.

"We have to analyze them and face them with all the responsibility and power that the State has, and also with the support of scientific societies. Our responsibility is to act," he added.

The Action Plan 2021-2024 Mental Health and Covid-19 presented today complements the Mental Health Strategy approved in 2006. Since 2019, the Government has promoted its renewal, with the participation of experts.

This strategy will now be reinforced by the plan, to which the government will allocate 100 million euros.

Child and adolescent psychiatry

The plan -said Sanchez- is launched "in response to the emergency caused by the impact of the Covid pandemic on Mental Health and responding to the report of the Reconstruction Commission."

During the event, the prime minister also announced the incorporation of the specialty of child and adolescent psychiatry to the Specialized Health Training.

Prime Minister Sanchez also announced the creation of a 24-hour free, confidential information telephone for the prevention of suicidal behavior, with the capacity to quickly refer to the corresponding emergency services in a crisis situation.