Towards a youth perspective in mental health support

Many mental disorders start from the age of 14 to 19. It should be said that when the subject of mental health of young people is approached, it is usually done from an adult perspective that analyzes, clinically, the reason for these psychological ailments in young people.

That perspective can be helpful because of professional experience and technical wisdom. It is necessary that, more and more, the youth perspective is incorporated into the analysis, as it contributes, from the experience itself, a first-person view that clarifies, as an empowering exercise, many preconceived ideas about the subject. It is difficult for someone who is not usually given a voice to be able to develop an introspective and reflective capacity about their own experience and, nevertheless, it is absolutely necessary that this be the case so that the public mental health system adapts to the real needs of young people.

An aspect that is interesting to incorporate on the part of the adult is to offer an orientation from the example, where the error, the questioning and the search for understanding with the other can be contemplated, thus avoiding the idea of being carriers of a truth that can be imposed on the "Truths" that the young person can feel at this time.

Likewise, deepening the importance of vision and perspective, it is necessary to bet on a broad view free of judgments that understands the person beyond the disorder, that asks about the life history, strengths and personal resources and possibilities of the environment. The environment, both family and social, is key to recovering well-being in the event of mental distress. From the most systemic and structural, such as the characteristics of the society in which one lives, through the material as economic conditions, to the network that surrounds the young person. All this will determine the possibilities, or not, of improvement. Youth entities can be, in this sense, a fundamental piece in the empowerment and personal growth of young people, as well as public policies aimed at the economic and social equity of citizens, since it has been demonstrated that the economic and social well-being has a direct impact on the health of the individual.

On the other hand, in addition to the centers specialized in mental health, schools and institutes have much to contribute in the work of emotions and in the detection and monitoring of psychological difficulties of young people. Mental health must be discussed openly in classes with all students, as well as suicide, since 20% of young people have expressed suicidal thoughts at least once (Teixidó, Hernández coord, 2018).

Talking about suicide, which is still taboo, is an excellent tool to reduce the suicide rate among the young population. Emotional education should, in this sense, be compulsory in school curricula. It is from these different spaces of participation that a society that is increasingly aware of mental health problems and how to accompany them can be built.