Mijas pledges to promote mental health prevention among youngsters with 'all resources available'

In order to mark World Mental Health Day (10 October), Mijas town hall hosted a meeting with teachers of primary and secondary schools to discuss issues related to the prevention of mental health in young people.

The meeting was chaired by the councillor for health and education, Mariló Olmedo, who explained that the council would continue to promote the prevention of mental health with “all the competent resources available”. The councillor went on to say that the town hall recognises the “severity” of the problem and that it would do everything possible to try to prevent it.

“We are going to work together with the entire educational community so that little by little, all these mental pathologies diminish, or at least, when they appear, we have all the facilities to detect them and know where to go to treat them,” Olmedo said.

The group, which consists of educational and medical professionals who will offer support to children showing the first signs of mental illness, will continue working on all projects addressed in the last school year. In addition, they will introduce a new programme related to school bullying, with direct intervention in the classrooms with students and teachers of all schools in the municipality.

The group will continue to host meetings with families, although the Mijas health department will expand the format to include “more dynamic activities”. These will include Train Your Mind, an initiative which promotes healthy lifestyle habits and good mental health.