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The MENTBEST project shows that women have a higher prevalence of mental health problems

Initial data from this European programme, which is being carried out in Santa Coloma de Gramenet and in the Sant Martí district of Barcelona, indicate that nearly 33% of participating women have received a diagnosis of depression, compared with 20% in the case of men.

The European MENTBEST project, which is being carried out in Santa Coloma de Gramenet and in the Sant Martí district of Barcelona, has now reached its halfway point after 12 months. The initial data from the study, unique in Spain and being conducted in five European countries, promoted by the European Union, show a higher prevalence of mental health problems in women.

Data from surveys carried out among a thousand people in the study area show that 32.9% of women reported having received a diagnosis of depression at some point in their lives. Among men, the percentage drops significantly to 20%. At the same time, 22% of women show symptoms of clinically relevant depression and 35% of anxiety, compared with 16% and 27% in men.

The questionnaires also explore attitudes that generate stigma toward depression. The results show that the men surveyed hold more negative beliefs about people diagnosed with this condition, attitudes which Dr Benedikt Amann, attending physician at Hospital del Mar and leader of the project in Spain, believes "may represent a barrier to recovery from the disorder”.

Objective, preventing suicide and depression

The European MENTBEST project, now entering its second year, incorporates a cross-cutting intervention at different levels of the community. Its objective is to address, from a community perspective, the prevention of suicide, the reduction of depression and emotional distress in communities undergoing rapid transformation. It places special emphasis on the most vulnerable people. "The community-based approach makes it possible, among other things, to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health issues, thereby promoting help-seeking behaviours", explains Dr Bridget Hogg, coordinator and psychologist of the project.

In the first year of the project, large-scale community intervention initiatives have been rolled out, including the training of community professionals, with a total of 291 participants, among them healthcare professionals, teachers and other workers. Workshops have also been held in secondary schools and vocational training centres for 744 young people in Santa Coloma, as well as five workshops for relatives of people with mental health problems.

The initiatives also include campaigns and events aimed at the general population, such as a range of activities to raise awareness of the project among the public as a whole and among young people in particular, including music festivals, actions to talk about suicide with both the general public and professionals, a Nordic walking event to raise funds for mental health research, sponsorship of the Talent League, which promotes inclusive football, and psychoeducation and self-esteem campaigns, with advertising posters on buses and in Santa Coloma metro stations.

MENTBEST's work places strong emphasis on active participation with organisations and associations that are rooted in the local area and therefore have first-hand knowledge of existing needs and gaps in the field of mental health. "This is an ambitious intervention that seeks to involve and engage all those people and institutions who may be interested and who identify shortcomings in the care and management of the psychological suffering of Santa Coloma's residents", explains Dr Amann. Once the intervention has been completed, the project plans to carry out a new survey of the population in order to record once again the social reality of mental health and confirm the benefits of all the actions implemented during the programme's two years.

The project's starting point was based on a local survey that confirmed the findings of recent mental health studies from the Catalan Health Survey (ESCA), which reveals that 7.5% of women in Catalonia show symptoms of moderate or severe depression, almost double the figure for men, 4.0%. Emotional distress therefore continues to be higher among women, especially those over 74 years of age.

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