Researchers from the University of Jaén and the PROEM Network produce a documentary in sound fiction as a tool to alphabetize about social anxiety among young people.
Miedo a diario’ is a serial in podcast format based on testimonies of adolescents diagnosed with social anxiety collected in a study of the UJA and the PROEM Network.
30/10/2020.- Researchers from the University of Jaén (UJA) and the Interdisciplinary Research Network for the Promotion of Mental Health and Emotional Well-being in Young People (PROEM Network) have produced the sound fiction documentary ‘Miedo a diario’, as a tool to teach literacy about social anxiety among young people.
Miedo a diario’ is a serial of 6 episodes in podcast format, which aims to address social anxiety disorder among adolescents, describe its symptomatology, vulnerabilities of young people who suffer from it, factors that contribute to its onset and maintenance, as well as the process that psychology follows in the identification, evaluation and treatment of this disorder.
The documentary is based on real testimonies of a clinical sample of adolescents diagnosed with social anxiety disorder collected by the research group ‘Evaluation and psychological intervention’ (HUM-836) of the UJA and the PROEM Network. This work is part of a research project of R+D+I of the State program of Research, Development and Innovation Oriented to the Challenges of Society, carried out in the Department of Psychology of the UJA in collaboration with Secondary Education institutes of Jaén and province.
“‘Miedo a diario’ tells in first person the story of Marisol, a young woman with social anxiety disorder,” says Lourdes Espinosa, professor in the Department of Psychology at UJA and co-director of the research project. “Through the recordings of her diary, Marisol leads us through a hidden and disabling problem for many young people, with confusing symptomatology, sometimes difficult to assess and detect, through the fears, symptoms and experiences that live with her in her day to day life”, explains the researcher of the UJA and the PROEM Network.
“Marisol’s story can be the story of any person,” stresses José Antonio Muela, director of the HUM-836 group at UJA and co-director of the research project. “Social anxiety is one of the most common problems among young people, but despite its importance, many suffer its symptoms without expressing them and without knowing that they have a disorder, so it goes unnoticed, or not enough attention is paid to it”, stresses the researcher of the UJA and the PROEM Network.
In this sense, Lourdes Espinosa clarifies that “social anxiety should not be confused with shyness. The young person who suffers from it feels incapacitated, his self-esteem suffers, it interferes with his behavior in relationship environments in contexts such as school or high school, he is unable to speak in public and it is very difficult for him to lead a normal life”.
The idea of producing ‘Miedo a diario’ arises as a mental health literacy tool for young people, which contributes to the implementation of strategies to prevent and detect the appearance of social anxiety disorders and to intervene with the greatest possible guarantees. “This podcast is a tool created from the opportunity offered by information technology, podcasting and the resurgence of sound fiction,” expresses Juan Pablo Molina, podcaster and director and screenwriter of the documentary. “Our purpose is that it can help, in a new way, to provide and facilitate the understanding of information and promotion of mental and emotional health on how to define, understand, identify and evaluate social anxiety disorder, to young people, parents, family members, friends, education and health professionals,” he says.
Along with José Antonio Muela, Lourdes Espinosa and Juan Pablo Molina, have collaborated a large team of research and technical work, including researchers from the UJA and the PROEM Network Clara Vallecillo, Lydia Amate and Lorena Fernandez, technicians Fran Delgado and Marcos David Cabrera, the youth acting group of the theater workshop “La Paca”, directed by Mari Carmen Gámez, who has given voice to many of the characters, the voice actor José Luis Angulo, who plays the role of narrator, or Pachi García, ‘Alis’, who lent several songs from his discography for the soundtrack.
‘Miedo a diario’ is available on the web miedoadiario.es and was presented last October 21 in the Aula Magna of the Campus Las Lagunillas of the UJA, in an event attended by Ana García León, director of the Secretariat of Sustainable and Healthy University of the UJA and the participation as speakers of Luis Joaquín García, Professor of Psychology at the UJA and main responsible of the PROEM Network, Enrique Vargas, president of the Spanish Association of Mutual Help against Social Phobia and Anxiety Disorders (AMTAES), and Rocío Casañas, psychologist of the Research Department of the Association Centre Higiene Mental Les Corts.
