Last year, nearly two hundred people used the Psychological Clinic of the University of Granada, a center where teaching is given, research is carried out and, moreover, the university community is served. From this number of people, almost half are students, the rest are teachers, administration and office staff or relatives. “Between November and December, a waiting list is generated,” explains Antonio Fernández Parra, the person in charge of the center.
“Students come with questions related to anxiety, relationship problems, stress …”, lists Fernández Parra, who warns of the need to address these questions from the psychological field. He says that in Britain, Tony Blair’s government years ago – estimated how much care for people with mental problems would cost public health care from the pharmacological and psychological fields. The therapeutic effects of psychological interventions were equal to or better than the effects obtained with drugs. So it was concluded that there was a need for more souls.
Loneliness mental problems, which are addressed in this center of the Faculty of Psychology of the University of Granada, are not intrinsic to the university group, although anxiety with each of the approximately 50 career patients and stress with others exist. Things that cause pain or damage also present a “great demand”, adds Fernández Parra, who points out that these cases do not always involve death. “There are more and more complicated situations”, acknowledges the professor and psychologist, who admits that Covid and the barrier could have this effect. “Before the duel was integrated, the losses were assumed,” the process was interrupted.
“There is also an increase in the destructive ideation”, reports Fernández Parra, who admits that, in general, the student body “has little access to mental health resources. There are not frequent users of the public health system”, which is the situation. he added that “it is not easy to obtain in a saturated system”, he acknowledges the professor. Even the Psychological Clinic of UGR comes to those who don’t know where to start. “They turn to us and are treated here or brought back to the public health system”, which makes this area of the Faculty of Psychology the first step to possibly being in Primary Care.
Regarding this increase in the causes of fatal conception, Fernández Parra points out that the University of Malacca (UMA) has already introduced a prevention program in the community of its university, whose commitment is “interesting”, says the professor. The UMA protocol could be an index for subsequent projects.
“We are not a hospital, and we have a limitation of the period of attention that extends throughout the course”, adds the person in charge of the Center, who mentions that psychological care in Primary Care “is not and should not be”. .
“We have a course to work with” with people who request programs that the Center has. “And sometimes it’s enough”, says Fernández Parra, who indicates that depending on the condition of the person treated, the care is extended to the next course or referred to other facilities.
Up to this point, in the first floor of the Faculty, come questions that are not only related to mental health. Thus, they have programs on violent genres, tobacco use or other addictions, healthy behaviors or eating disorders. There are also students who ask for help with literacy problems. A particularly notable case is that mentioned by Fernández Parra, a doctorate who was destined to have dyslexia, a disorder that did not hide throughout his entire institution, until he reached the doctoral program.
College students and mental health
Is the mental health of university students better or worse than other groups? In the UGR Clinic, they studied the cases that reach the course after the course. “We know there are constant issues,” says Fernández Parra. This is just one example of the strict standards that apply to doctoral programs. “It is the people who are always exposed to the demands,” reports the researcher, who emphasizes that the specialty “sees anxious situations when they begin to be problematic.”
Studies suggest that 20% of the population have psychological problems. “In some of these cases, the problems will be alleviated. In others, they will be worse,” adds Fernández Parra, who estimates that “the pandemic has been very hard”, even among university students who have seen their policies and social relations. involved Hence it arises in those cases in which sleep problems occur, which means, as a result, a drop in performance.
Training and care
“We generate service and knowledge.” The UGR Clinical Psychology office combines the role of the university community with research and training for master’s degree students in Health Psychology, 30 students per year.
“We have very specialized programs, and it is important to maintain the level of training”, considers the director of the Clinic. “Part of the support is important, but if we do not join the generation of knowledge, we lose the objective”, appreciates the professor, who combines the subject with a view that combines everything. “There is no less strength of mind, but more problems to destabilize life.”
Learn a free course to manage stress
The Clinical Psychology of the University of Granada (UGR) in January offered the opportunity to participate in a workshop on stress control for university students. Free registration and strict order of application. The workshop is scheduled to begin in mid-February, and will be completed by Clinic professionals in the Faculty of Psychology. “Before we start the workshop, the applicants will be used for an initial assessment on an individual basis”, it is indicated in the information provided by this activity of the UGR.
