Mental health has become one of the major social issues in Spain and the rest of Europe. Data, the experiences of families and professionals, and new research all point to one key issue: emotional distress is not an isolated or individual matter, but a challenge that affects education, employment, sports, and healthcare systems themselves.
In recent months, various public initiatives , university projects, sports programs, and technological solutions have focused on how to detect psychological distress earlier, how to better support those experiencing it, and how to protect caregivers . From a municipality in Seville to European university campuses, and including hospitals, elite clubs, and startups, new ways of understanding and addressing emotional well-being are being tested.
Municipal and community programs for young people: prevention is better than cure
In Mairena del Aljarafe (Seville), the City Council has launched three municipal mental health resources designed for teenagers, young adults, and their families. The objective is clear: to offer professional, personalized, and free support during a stage of life in which emotional, personal, and family challenges can become overwhelming.
On the one hand, the Emotional Support Point operates every Thursday afternoon, from 17:00 to 19:00 p.m., at the Youth Center. There, a psychologist provides individual support to young people who need guidance, a space to vent, or assistance in managing their emotions. Access is simple: just request an appointment via the designated municipal email address.
In parallel, the Adolescere program is aimed at teenagers between 14 and 17 years old and their families, and also takes place on Thursdays from 17:00 to 19:00 p.m. until the end of January. This program organizes two groups that work simultaneously: one with young people experiencing emotional or relationship difficulties, and another with parents seeking tools to improve communication , coexistence, and daily life management at home.
Adolescere combines techniques from psychodrama, systemic family therapy, and the PIBE (Integrative Scene-Based Approach) , allowing for the exploration of everyday situations in a participatory and practical way. Access is by referral from schools or the Social Action Department, strengthening coordination between schools, social services, and families.
These two resources are integrated with a third pillar: Emotionally Prepared Classrooms , a program that brings mental health directly into schools through workshops, discussions, and reflective activities with students. It also includes the development of a digital resource guide and offers guidance and training to teachers to tailor the content to the specific needs of each group.
With this package of measures, the Mairena council is trying to go beyond one-off campaigns, opting for a continuous strategy of prevention and emotional support for young people, combining individual attention, group work and support for families and educational centers.
Childhood and intellectual disability: the experts' warning
While municipalities create new services, third-sector entities and the scientific community bring to the table an uncomfortable reality: children with intellectual or developmental disabilities start with a clear disadvantage in mental health and continue to be, in many cases, the forgotten ones.
At a seminar organized by Plena inclusión, child psychiatrist Mila Fuentes emphasized that children with autism have a significantly higher risk of developing psychological problems than the rest of the child population. According to the data she presented, they are up to 33 times more likely to have an associated autism spectrum disorder , 8 times more likely to develop ADHD, 6 times more likely to suffer from behavioral disorders, 4 times more likely to experience emotional disorders, 3 times more likely to develop schizophrenia, and 1,7 times more likely to experience depression.
Fuentes also warned of a phenomenon known as the "eclipse effect" : many problematic behaviors are automatically attributed to disability, causing mental disorders to go unnoticed and untreated. As a result, many of these children do not reach mental health services or only do so when the behaviors are already very severe.
The specialist emphasized the importance of paying attention to certain warning signs: sudden mood swings, loss of previously acquired skills, social isolation, sleep problems, self-harm, or episodes of unexpected aggression. Faced with such indicators, she insisted that self-harm should never be normalized as something "inherent" to disability, but rather understood as an expression of distress that requires serious intervention.
During her presentation, she also detailed how common disorders manifest in this group. For example, anxiety can appear through stereotypies , hyperactivity, rigidity, or excessive attachment; depression is often associated with irritability, apathy, or a decline in school performance; and OCD can present with visible compulsions without the child verbalizing obsessive thoughts, which makes diagnosis difficult.
Regarding treatment, Fuentes insisted that medication in childhood should be reserved for severe cases or when psychoeducational interventions are insufficient. She called for more training for families and professionals in prevention, relaxation, and self-regulation strategies, preferably within everyday settings such as the home or school, and advocated for a coordinated approach among health, education, and social services to ensure that no child is left out of the support system.
European universities: the HEARTS method and well-being on campuses
Another area where psychological distress is becoming increasingly visible is the university. The European project HEARTS , coordinated by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), stems precisely from the observation that mental health has become a growing concern in higher education institutions , but it is still not integrated across all aspects of academic life.
According to researcher María Esther Fernández-Mostaza, students report difficulties accessing support services, a lack of awareness of available resources, and an absence of safe spaces to discuss emotional distress, grief, or experiences of discrimination. Similarly, faculty and administrative staff acknowledge that they lack the necessary training and tools to address these situations on a daily basis.
To address this situation, HEARTS conducted a needs assessment at five European universities and designed pilot programs with students, faculty, and administrative and support staff. This work has resulted in an intervention framework that combines academic knowledge with creative methodologies, aiming to address mental health from a community-based, preventative, and trauma-sensitive perspective.
The activities have been structured through workshops and training programs that utilize social and community theater , expressive and sociological approaches, social psychology, intercultural competence training, mindfulness and resilience practices, and action-research tools such as Photovoice. All proposals have been co-created with the participants and the services of each university, so that they adapt to local realities and do not remain a simple “standard package”.
In addition to the UAB, the project involves the University Institute of Lisbon, the University of Malta, the University of Cagliari, the Social Community Theatre Centre in Turin, and the International Union for Health Promotion and Education, based in France. This alliance has allowed for a comparison of very different contexts and, at the same time, the development of a common language on mental health, diversity, and inclusion within the European university setting.
Among the results, three open-access resources stand out: the HEARTS Foundation Bricks Report , which identifies barriers and inequalities in access to care; the HEARTS Activity Handbook , a manual of activities and workshops to work on well-being with students and staff; and the HEARTS Guide , a guide to transferring the method to other universities and integrating it into both teaching and institutional policies.
The data collected show a clear demand for dedicated spaces to discuss mental health , a rigid separation between academic curriculum and wellness activities, and the need to strengthen training for faculty and support staff. Pilot programs also indicate that creative and participatory methodologies help reduce stigma and build stronger support networks on campuses.
The final conference held on the Bellaterra campus served to share these results with the university community and mental health professionals, as well as to explore how to continue the HEARTS method beyond the project itself, making it easier for other institutions to download the materials available at heartsproject.eu and adapt them to their own context.
Hyperconnectivity and work: when employment seeps into mental health
Concern for psychological well-being is not limited to young people or university campuses. In the workplace, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (INSST) has published a technical document entitled “Study on Hyperconnectivity and Mental Health in the Workplace ,” which analyzes how the intensive use of information and communication technologies is changing the way we work and, consequently, affecting the emotional well-being of workers.
The report focuses on four main objectives . First, to define what is meant by hyperconnectivity in the professional environment and how this reality affects the mental health of those who regularly use digital devices and platforms to perform their work.
Secondly, the INSST has developed and applied an assessment tool to a sample of workers across the country , in order to collect information on levels of hyperconnectivity, mental health status and various sociodemographic and organizational factors that may influence it, such as the type of work schedule, the sector or the corporate culture.
The third point of the study consists of analyzing the associations between the degree of permanent connection, psychological well-being and the characteristics of the work environment, trying to identify which combinations of factors most increase the risk of stress, anxiety or emotional exhaustion.
Finally, the document offers a set of recommendations to prevent the negative effects of hyperconnectivity , both at the organizational level (digital disconnection policies, task redesign, healthy leadership) and at the individual level (time management skills, limits on device use, self-care strategies). With this, the INSST aims to provide evidence to help unions, companies, and public administrations make more informed decisions.
Innovation and technology at the service of mental health
While the risks of the hyperconnected world are being analyzed, solutions are also emerging that seek to leverage technology to improve access to and quality of mental health care. One example is Nexi Health , a startup founded in 2023 that focuses on developing solutions for psychological problems.
The company's proposal revolves around a virtual assistant, Bruna, that converses with patients before the consultation, gathers and analyzes clinical and emotional information, and clinical software, Meripsy, which generates pre-diagnostic reports, suggests treatment guidelines, and facilitates follow-up over time. The idea is that professionals can focus more time on the therapeutic relationship, relying on technology for data collection and organization.
According to its founder, Eneka Iribarren, these solutions allow primary care physicians, who often feel they lack sufficient tools, to save consultation time and detect serious cases earlier . The aim is not to replace the professional, but to offer support that makes a growing demand more manageable, in a context where, according to various studies, a significant proportion of patients diagnosed with mental health conditions do not receive adequate follow-up after their initial visit.
Nexi Health's developments target hospitals, insurers, and the pharmaceutical industry. For healthcare facilities, they promise to reduce waiting lists and optimize care pathways ; for insurers, to facilitate the implementation of more structured mental health programs; and for the pharmaceutical sector, to provide data for pilot clinical studies and the evaluation of new treatments.
Currently, the company operates in the European mental health market and aims to expand into other countries, with the support of Basque public initiatives promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. Among its goals is to continue entering more hospitals and insurance companies so that a greater number of professionals have access to specific tools that will allow them to better care for the mental health of their patients.
Sport and teenagers: the role of FC Barcelona and its foundation
Sport, especially among young people, is also becoming a key element in mental health care. At the We Mind Forum held in Barcelona, Marta Segú, CEO of the FC Barcelona Foundation , participated in a panel on sport and psychological well-being, where she presented several initiatives aimed at children and adolescents with mental health disorders . This connection between physical activity and well-being is supported by evidence of the benefits of exercise on mental health.
One of these projects is EsportivaMent , in which over a hundred teenagers with depression participate in socio-sports sessions supervised by health and sports professionals. The approach combines physical activity with work on social skills, self-esteem, and emotional management, aiming to make sport a complementary therapeutic support.
Another initiative is MOV@ment , a scientific study with young people who have an incipient psychotic disorder, whose objective is to measure the impact of physical activity and cooperative sport on their clinical evolution and their quality of life
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At the same time, the Barça Foundation has announced a comprehensive mental health plan within the club itself to protect the more than 700 young people who train weekly at its facilities. This pioneering program includes the addition of specialized staff who will be responsible for the early detection of psychological problems and referrals to specific resources when necessary.
The initiative complements the child protection protocols the club has implemented since 2022 and is expected to be extended to all sports categories . The plan includes measures for prevention, early identification, support, and guidance, with advice from specialized child welfare organizations and scientific backing from Vall d'Hebron Hospital, which will help identify the most common mental health disorders in high-performance sports and design appropriate interventions.
Professionals pushed to their limits: overload in a psychiatric unit
While mental health initiatives for the general population are multiplying, the reality for those working in the healthcare system presents both positive and negative aspects. At Cruces Hospital in the Basque Country, the LAB union has denounced the excessive workload borne by nursing assistants in the psychiatric unit following the expansion of beds without a corresponding increase in staff.
The reorganization of the service has increased intensive care capacity to 28 beds and opened new units to serve a catchment population that has grown from 230.000 to 600.000. However, according to the union, the current staffing ratios—three professionals in the morning, two in the afternoon, and two at night—are clearly insufficient for a complex environment like a psychiatric hospital , where constant monitoring, therapeutic support, prevention of self-harm, and management of agitated situations are essential. This type of overload increases the psychosocial risk for the staff.
LAB warns that this situation increases the psychosocial risk for workers and jeopardizes the quality and safety of care provided to inpatients. The union emphasizes that the expansion of infrastructure and services cannot come at the expense of the well-being of the staff who maintain them, and that keeping the same staffing ratios in a context of greater healthcare complexity clashes with the principles of humanization that the service itself claims to promote.
Among the main concerns are the risk of extreme exhaustion, anxiety, depression, and other illnesses linked to work-related stress. The union considers it especially serious that such a far-reaching reform of a mental health service was carried out without a rigorous study of workloads or a genuine negotiation process with the staff who are familiar with the unit's daily operations.
LAB is demanding a halt to the current practices, the opening of a dialogue with professionals, an independent evaluation of workloads, and the collective planning of a service model that serves as a benchmark not only for the care provided to service users, but also for the treatment and support given to frontline workers . The union argues that excellence in care cannot be claimed while ignoring the mental health of those who sustain the system.
The sum of these initiatives and alerts paints a complex picture: on the one hand, government agencies, universities, social organizations, sports clubs, and technology companies are experimenting with new ways to prevent, detect, and treat mental health problems in young people, students, and the general population; on the other hand, the shortcomings of the system are becoming apparent, from the lack of resources for children with intellectual disabilities to the pressure faced by healthcare professionals and the impact of hyperconnectivity in the workplace. In this context, mental health is solidifying its position as an area where intersectoral coordination, the participation of those affected, and long-term planning will be key to moving from isolated projects to a structural and sustained response.