The City of Barcelona will allocate an extraordinary item of 1.5 million euros, which must be added to 640,000 euros already budgeted, to mental health programs to deal with psychological consequences caused among citizens by the crisis of
Covid-19.
This was announced at a telematic press conference by the Minister of Health, Aging and Cures, Gemma Tarafa, who stressed that after the “economic, social and economic crisis” also awaits a “mental health crisis that is and will be devastating and without precedents ”.
The data gathered by the consistory make it explicit: 49% of Barcelona residents label the confinement as “hard or very hard” and 86% declare themselves “very or quite concerned” about the current situation.
Likewise, two telephones dealing with problems of this type – that of the Official College of Psychology of Catalonia and that of Esperanza – have answered almost 10,000 calls, 72% of them from women and 58% of people between 49 and 69 years.
Fear and anguish of contagion from oneself or others, the most recurring feelings
Among the most recurring feelings detected by the municipal government are fear and anguish of contagion from oneself or from close people, a feeling of excessive burden on caregivers, the emotional impact caused by mourning and the special circumstances that surround it. this time or loneliness or isolation.
Episodes such as problems in living with the family, difficulties in sleeping or other behavioral issues are recorded among minors.
In any case, mental health problems -as well as those of another nature- “do not affect everyone equally”, since the confinement “has been experienced more harshly in some districts than in others”, Tarafa has affected. As an example, he said that living in a sublet room with dependent children is not the same as living in a spacious apartment with balconies.
The Town Hall Shock Plan
The mental health crash plan proposed by the municipal government -and that to be effective must endorse the plenary- consists of several lines of work, among which the councilor has highlighted four.
Online learning and support activities to promote emotional well-being, similar to an initiative already undertaken in New York; a mental health counseling program for professionals from social entities; a telephone for minors and families; or support measures for organizations that work “in the field of social and labor integration of people with mental health problems”.
The president of Fòrum Salut Mental, Enric Arqués, has pointed out the “importance” of the Barcelona consistory worrying about these kinds of problems, “absolutely invisible” after the 2008 recession. He has warned in this regard that, despite the cases that have already been detected, “it seems that there may be a second wave less spectacular but more profound and intense” in the coming dates.
Luis Miguel Martín, from the Parc de Salut consortium in Barcelona, has emphasized in turn that the maps affecting mental health problems “replicate” the existing social inequalities in the city. “In the most vulnerable areas there is more serious mental disorder and a higher risk of suffering from it,” he said.
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