Luis Joaquín García, the main responsible for this program, explained its key points on the first day of the course “Talking about Mental Health in Adolescents and Young Adults: Where are we and where are we going?”
5/07/2022.- The DAREMOS initiative, one of the actions to promote mental health in young people led by researchers from the University of Jaen (UJA) and the Institute of Biomedical Research of Malaga (IBIMA), was presented to the attendees of the summer course organized by the UJA in La Carolina, entitled “Talking about mental health in adolescents and young people. Where are we and where are we going?”, coordinated by UJA professor Lourdes Espinosa.
Luis Joaquín García, professor at the UJA and head of DAREMOS, presented the current situation of mental health in adolescents and young people and possible suggestions for action to improve in this regard. In his analysis, Luis Joaquín García commented that “young people are the sector of the population that is currently having the worst time emotionally”. In this regard, he stressed that youth suicide is a major problem, which is already the leading cause of death in the 15-29 age group, ahead of traffic accidents or tumors, with depression being one of the factors that most contributes to suicidal behavior. However, problems such as anxiety and depression remain underdetected. “An interdisciplinary approach is needed to help identify early signs that suggest the presence of emotional problems, or at risk of developing them, for further evaluation,” he said.
The DAREMOS initiative is a project co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Ministry of Economy and Knowledge of the Andalusian Regional Government and the participation of UJA researchers Luis Joaquín García, Lourdes Espinosa and Belén Diez and researchers from the Genomics Unit of the Institute of Biomedical Research of Malaga (IBIMA), Juan Miguel Gómez and María Jesús Pinto, in collaboration with Yotta, spin off of the UJA. In addition, the Instituto de la Juventud (INJUVE) of the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, the Asociación Española de Ayuda Mutua contra Fobia Social y Trastornos de Ansiedad (AMTAES), the Confederación de Organizaciones de Psicopedagogía y Orientación de España (COPOE), and the Consejo de la Juventud de España (CJE) are part of the project’s External Advisory Board.
