Elena Gocmen Rueda
THE Valencian Community has registered 308 suicides among young people aged under-30 in the past 10 years.
According to Save The Children, in 2020 one in 10 deaths in this age group were due to suicide or self-harm.
The NGO adds that the pandemic has brought new worries, fears and unhappiness, and highlights the magnitude of the mental health problems that afflict young people.
Its analysis concludes that mental disorders have increased from 1% to 3% in children and adolescents aged 4-14 years in Spain since 2017.
Following a survey of 2,000 parents, it estimates that mental health problems amongst youngsters are three times higher in jobless families than in those in work.
Poorer households also have a higher proportion of migrant children with a higher incidence of mental and/or behavioural disorders.
According to the survey, 3% of children and adolescents reported having suicidal thoughts in 2021.
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