Mental health: "There are no bad emotions, they are all good because they give information"

• Health The pressure can with Simone Biles: "Overexposure to the public triggered anxiety"

When US Olympic team superstar gymnast

decided to withdraw from the Tokyo Olympics final to protect her sanity, the whole world was taken aback.

Some applauded her bravery, others dismissed her as weak.

The truth was that the post-pandemic mental health debate became a discussion that gained visibility both in sports and in politics or in the family sphere.

Thus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) health report, the number of people with anxious and depressive states increased by more than 25% during the first year of the pandemic alone, and one in eight people in the world lives with anxiety or depression.

On the other hand, the report describes as "insufficient" the health response for the treatment of these states.

Silvia Álava, Doctor of Clinical and Health Psychology, and Francisco Rey, Director of Business Development at BBVA Seguros, talked about all this in the debate

, organized by EL MUNDO and Expansión and sponsored by by BBVA.

The talk was moderated by Miguel González Corral, Director of the Editorial Unit's Health Area.

For Francisco Rey there is a clear correlation between events such as the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, or job instability among young people and the decline in people's mental health.

"

, according to data from the Sanitas Study

, says Rey.

On the other hand, mental illnesses also have an economic impact, both indirectly, due to the loss of productivity as a result of sick leave or reduced performance, and directly, due to the cost of treatment.

Lost productivity related to depression and anxiety, two of the most common mental disorders, is estimated to cost the global economy $1 trillion annually, according to the WHO.

And he added: "In fact, depression is now the leading cause of disability worldwide."

Francisco Rey, Silvia Álava and Miguel G. Corral.MAURICIO SKRYCKY

For Rey,

.

"Maintain healthy habits, create awareness about how to take care of ourselves physically and emotionally, in short, anticipate ourselves," she stressed.

Rey assures that "prevention is at the genesis of insurance."

"Together with Sanitas, we are committed to offering personalized products and using our joint digital capabilities to help people adopt healthier lifestyle habits," he pointed out.

Thus, since the start of the pandemic, BBVA detected a "high increase in the contracting of health insurance."

Thus, for Álava it is important to take care of mental health and invest in emotional health through five basic pillars: movement and exercise, healthy eating, good sleeping habits and listening to emotions.

For her, it is a mistake to classify emotions as good or bad since they are sources of information that tell us how we feel and we must learn to listen to them.

she assured.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

Know more

• Mental health