In recent years, we have standardized hearing terms like mental health, psychologist or psychotherapy. This has generated the feeling that psychology has grown exponentially in Spain and that, practically, everyone goes to the psychologist “without anything happening, on the contrary”. It’s seen as something positive.
However, the reality is more complex than it seems, because it begins by explaining Adrià Puente Sabater, psychologist and family therapist, co-founder of Nomad Psicología. “The conversation has broadened, certainly, but access and care remain deeply unequal.” We spoke with him and two other psychologists, to give us their point of view on this phenomenon which has established itself in our society.
When mental health is no longer a taboo subject
The first expert shares with us the opinion that “we live in an increasingly demanding society, in which social, professional and family pressure is intensifying and where the institutions that should support and protect citizens seem insufficient. The 2020 pandemic was a turning point: it exposed our emotional vulnerabilities and caused a substantial increase in anxiety and depressive disorders.
What happened then? “At that time, we could not find any institutional support to help us. As a result, mental health ceased to be a taboo subject and many psychological centers began to receive more requests. We have progressed in knowledge, dissemination and sensitivity; Talking about mental health is no longer scary and it is common to meet someone who is undergoing therapy or who recommends a professional.
The bad news, according to Adrià, is that “this does not mean that everyone goes to the psychologist. Not because they don’t need it, but because not everyone can afford it. Public health care has extremely limited resources and private care is not accessible to everyone. And to need psychological help, you just have to suffer. No one chooses suffering. What we need is not that society as a whole be consulted, but live in an environment where we feel protected, supported and free to build a future based on our own choices and our well-being.
Having a psychological problem is no longer associated with being “crazy” or being “weak”
The second professional consulted is Sara Sarmiento, psychologist, psychoanalyst and EMDR therapist specializing in trauma and emotional dependence. The expert begins by telling us that in her experience of more than 10 years of working with trauma “I see two realities that coexist: a positive increase in the visibility of mental health and, at the same time, a worrying diagnostic inflation.”
On the one hand, it is positive that “having a psychological problem is no longer associated with being “crazy” or being “weak”. Thanks to this visibility, many people who previously suffered in silence are now receiving help what they need. But the opposite extreme appears: people who self-diagnose based on what they see on the networks. Behind this increase lie obvious economic interests: diagnoses determined by commissions linked to the pharmaceutical industry and indiscriminate use of psychotropic drugs. “Antidepressants and anxiolytics, with a high potential for dependence and side effects, have been prescribed for years during consultations of just four minutes.”
Furthermore, “many therapies aim make the person functional, who produces and does not think. They focus on “eliminating symptoms” such as anxiety, when they are often signs that something is wrong. We need to help people be resilient, but not to adapt to a hyperproductive society, but to be critical of what is around them and to have enough strength to leave toxic environments.
Paradoxically, “deep and long-term therapies are often criticized because, according to some professionals, they create dependence. No one questions the fact that a person goes to yoga or the gym with a teacher for years, but if he consults a psychologist, it seems strange to us. long-term therapies where the person can develop critical thinking, in a safe environment, and contrary to popular belief, they are a space of autonomy: weekly sessions, without easy diagnosis, where the person reviews their history. “It’s not fashion, it’s taking care of your mind as you take care of your body.”
Dealing with specific problems or investigating self-knowledge?
Buenaventura del Charco Olea, university professor, writer and psychologist in Marbella, makes two main distinctions about therapy: “Although there are dozens of types, they boil down to two approaches. deal with specific problemsand on the other hand, understanding what internal processes lead us to act in one way or another.”
If it’s the first, “we should only go for a consultation if there are the things we want to improve because they bother usbut without making everyday life pathological (the pain of a breakup, the precariousness that a new job causes us, etc.) or falling into self-demands. These therapies focus on concrete solutions, and some examples would be brief strategic, cognitive-behavioral or systemic therapy.
However, if one seeks more self-knowledge, “critical reflection on who we are and why we govern ourselves“, emotional management or personal congruence and freedom, the specialist would opt for Humanistic Therapy, Constructive-Narrative Therapy or psychoanalysis”, concludes Ventura.
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