Eight out of ten young people have experienced symptoms of emotional distress during the past year

The results of the 2021 Youth Barometer: Health and Well-being , by the Mutua Madrileña Foundation and the FAD Youth Foundation, reveal data on the emotional well-being of young Spaniards that confirm many other similar post-pandemic studies: young people are one of the groups most impacted in the last two years. The barometer gathers responses from 1,500 young Spaniards between the ages of 15 and 29.

Young people perceive their physical and mental health as worse than it was five years ago. According to the study's authors, this decline was already observed in 2019, but the pandemic has prolonged it. 36.2% report having been diagnosed with a mental disorder by a healthcare professional at some point. The most frequent are depression and anxiety , panic, or phobia disorders, with depression being more common among older individuals, specifically those aged 25 to 29.

56.4% of the young people interviewed believe they have suffered from psychological, psychiatric, or mental health problems in the last 12 months (self-diagnosis). However, almost half of them (49%) did not seek professional help , mainly citing economic reasons (37.3%) and underestimating or downplaying the problem, thinking they could resolve it on their own (34%).

In the past year, up to eight out of ten young people report experiencing symptoms of emotional distress. Among the most frequent symptoms they describe are feelings of sadness/hopelessness, lack of interest in doing things, and difficulty concentrating. Broken down by gender, women experience feelings of sadness, depression, or hopelessness almost 20 percentage points more than men (66.3% of women vs. 47.6% of men), again with a particularly high incidence in the older age group.

Regarding suicidal thoughts , one in three boys and girls (35.4%) have experienced them at least once or with some frequency in the last year, and 8.9% have experienced them continuously or very frequently. In other words, 44.3% of young people have thought about it at some point, which represents a significant increase compared to 2019, when the figure stood at 40.1%.

The authors of the survey state that the use of non-prescription drugs is quite widespread among young Spaniards: more than half of young people (53.7%) have used medication without a prescription in the last year. Of these, 15% take medication regularly (daily, several times a week, or once a week) without a prescription. Looking at psychotropic drugs, one in four young people (24.9%) have used them with or without a prescription in the last year. Men are the most likely to have used this type of medication without a prescription.

While the perception of good emotional health is declining, the perception of good physical health remains high among young people. 54.6% of young people perceive themselves as having an optimal level of health, although this figure has been decreasing over the years (it was 86.7% in 2017). 60.5% consider that they follow healthy lifestyle patterns, while 34.9% define their lifestyle as "unhealthy," with younger women (up to 19 years old) being the most likely to report this lifestyle.