One of the regional government’s plans to stop the decline in mental health in the community is the hiring of five specialists focused on the deficit in child and adolescent neurodevelopment. Yes, at the earliest ages some people are feeling especially … problems that can lead to greater difficulties with growth if adequate professional care and guidelines are not available.
The data reflect a significant increase in prevalence. From 2016 to 2022, learning difficulties have increased by 72% between ages 5 and 15, while behavioral problems increase by 28% and sleep problems by 26%. A recent Unicef report indicates that more than half of Spanish adolescents have recurring difficulties concentrating, while many report feelings of tiredness, problems resting, disinterest, depression…
«The reasons for this deterioration are multi-causal, but one of the most important is the emotional danger posed by overexposure and unfiltered use of social networks and electronic devices. “They are pioneers in the use of these tools and at a transcendental moment in their development, identity formation, decision-making…,” explains Carmen Castroviejo, psychologist at the Apóyate Center, specialist in childhood and youth.
Recently, a thesis by Julia Pérez Sáenz, a doctor from the University of La Rioja, concluded that one in three Rioja adolescents made problematic use of the Internet, detailing that the same proportion found an escape route on the Internet in moments of decline and 8.5% preferred to spend time online rather than with family or friends.
“Early attention is essential, we must not let it pass or invalidate our children’s feelings”
«The ideal of beauty shown on social networks associates beauty with an unreal perception»
Carmen Castroviejo
Psychologist
Castroviejo emphasizes that “early attention to these difficulties is essential, we must not let it pass or invalidate our children’s emotions. “We also have to adjust expectations about therapeutic processes because the changes are not immediate or visible at the beginning, they must germinate, take root and grow.”
He also comments that “the symptoms of depressive disorder are totally different in children and adolescents than in the adult population, they are not perceived as sad or unmotivated, we must be very attentive to the loss of interest in their hobbies, to irascibility… ». But he especially highlights the “great uptick” in eating disorders in adolescence: “70% of adolescents do not feel comfortable with their body. “And the ideal of beauty shown on social networks associates beauty with an unreal perception.”
#Argentina
