Ruth Diaz Madrid
Madrid
Updated Monday, March 25, 2024-00:40
Childhood The record-breaking family that has urgently welcomed 14 babies in 9 years: "We had a girl who cried non-stop... She had withdrawal syndrome"
Society The home for homeless and sick people where you dream twice as much: "Without a home, you don't receive chemotherapy"
Her voice wavers as she launches into a story about how her friends began to exclude her in high school and she still manages to make some timid jokes. But, as she goes deeper into what she has suffered, her body shrinks and mutely spaces out the narrative, when she recognizes that in class she felt
"a little lonely
," because "from chatting in Plastic Arts" they went on to "uncomfortable silences, little glances and saying 'Why don't you move?'” after kicking her out of the WhatsApp group without explanation. And she resumes more rapidly ruminating on that failed solution of talking about it with those who abused her verbally and socially. "It ended badly." With those
"you're ashamed of others, you're
cringe
" or "you're a fake"
from those who were her trusted peers, while they insulted her and, suspecting her, invented rumors about her. This 14-year-old girl ditches with a monosyllable that resonates eloquently.
-Does this situation still bother you?
-Yeah.
Blanca
[fictitious name to protect her identity] is a victim of bullying, already in the process of medical recovery. What, to inexperienced eyes, could be described as childish things, teenage fights, had led to self-harm. «
I didn't like my body
. In 6th grade I started comparing myself to my classmates because I wanted to be like them, to be skinnier," she also confesses. "The school counselor called us because they had talked to her and had seen some strange things," her mother continues. «Blanca admitted that she had been doing self-harm for some time and they told us to go directly to our pediatrician. It's true that it wasn't super serious, although,
as parents, my world fell apart
. "We went, and the pediatrician started the protocol."
That's the novelty. That mooring that, together with her family and the quick intervention of the teaching center - "the work they have done has been spectacular," her mother thanks -, prevented Blanca from delving deeper into the drift.
Well, since this month, the
Community of Madrid
has activated a new action plan in public health spaces, to "improve the early detection of alleged cases of
child abuse
in all its manifestations," they point out. Now, paediatricians, family doctors, nurses, dentists, midwives, physiotherapists, psychologists and social workers can treat minors from bullying
,
neglect of care or abuse of new technologies to chemical submission, genital mutilation, trafficking and sexual exploitation or membership in youth gangs. "Scientific evidence suggests that
there is underdiagnosis,
which is the tip of the iceberg," explains
Eva Toledano, head of the CAM's Social Work and Primary Care service
, who participated, along with a team of professionals from the first level of care. and the hospital, in the development of this protocol for a year. Because "there was a need." It is the resounding diagnosis that the Community Primary Care physicians, gathered by GRAN MADRID, together with this family, agree on.
As
Marian Cuesta, pediatrician
, emphasizes , the essential thing is to "detect the alarm signals" that make up the symptoms or indicators included in this document. «And in a case like Blanca's, there is already an important sign, which is the physical damage that is done to alleviate that discomfort. The important thing is early detection, because the longer these situations persist, the more repercussions we can have at the health level, both physically and mentally," she explains about the consequences of not stopping it in time. "These are children who,
if they are subjected to sustained bullying, can develop anxiety situations, including depressive symptoms, sometimes even self-harming ideas, along with weight loss, fatigue, phobias about going to school...
" What is not limited to a mere phase or, as they said in times past, "is age, it will pass", but can condition the adult stage, the genetic load and, even, in the worst case , leading to suicide: this external death has reached its
all-time highs
in adolescents and young people, according to the latest
INE
statistics on
Deaths by cause of death
. In fact, in
2022
, 75 people between 15 and 19 years old took their lives, 41.5% more than the previous year.
Two Primary Care professionals treat the patient.ÁNGEL NAVARRETE
«The big problem with all this is that it is very hidden. "Whoever suffers from it [school bullying] does not ask for help," explains
Miguel Ángel Alfaro, social worker
. Despite the fact that this type of behavior is contemplated in Law 8/2021 on comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against violence.
The phenomenon is growing in Spain. Or, as Blanca's mother comments: "
It's a job that society needs
. "
Maybe there are the same cases as before, but now they are becoming more visible. According to the
First Study on bullying and cyberbullying in Spain in childhood and adolescence
, carried out in 2023 by the
Complutense University
as one of the most complete to date with the participation of 20,662 students, it was concluded that an average of
two students per class suffer bullying
in Spain.
Despite the habit of keeping quiet about ridicule, exclusion or aggression in the educational environment, "in the end, the body speaks." As in the case of Blanca. With the recent protocol in the regional Health, in any of the check-ups of the healthy child, not only the physical is evaluated, but also the social, the school, dealing with social networks, the problem of cyberbullying... «No
case "It can be considered mild
," adds the Pediatrics professional. And her colleague in social work emphasizes: "Many families do not know that in Primary Care they can ask for help for these problems and that we are increasingly trained and sensitized to address them."
Blanca assures that "at times" she already begins
to "feel better
. "
And her smile escapes. Her case was referred from the pediatric consultation to that of Miguel Ángel Alfaro. «The family arrives very, very worried and she feels very small. "We began to do social support work, to reassure the family and see what their social environment is, what it is affecting them, and decide which specialized resource they are referred to to continue with the process." Psychiatry and psychological assistance were the next steps. "We are still there, but very happy, much calmer," corroborates the mother of the minor, while they cast knowing glances at each other. «
She has always been a super sociable girl, very fun, very enjoyable and there was a time when she was not her.
It is not the same as she was when she was 8 years old, because now she is 14, but we have seen that she is recovering, she is returning to who she is.
She dreams of being a writer and says that
she now has two novels in her hands
: one, "about murder and infidelity", and another more intimate, while listening to Taylor Swift, Maneskin, Slipknot or Guns and Roses for inspiration. «It's a bit based on my life. From self-harm to thoughts of suicide. There are things that haven't happened to me, but I like to put things in to make it more interesting. I put how I feel, but a little hidden," she comments with enthusiasm.
"She has potential... She's fantastic
," her social worker spontaneously blurts out. And that's how you should grow.
FAMILY DOCTORS, IN FRONT OF YOUTH GANGS
«These teenagers are
very vulnerable
and the gangs offer them protection. And you have to work on a lot of self-esteem because it is usually at rock bottom and what these groups offer you is false. A lot is treated through mental health, psychology, psychiatry, there are many cases of anxiety, low spirits, and you have to be attentive in many visits, it is a long job," explains
Marta Guil, a primary care family doctor
. of the CAM, on how they now treat those affected by their involvement in youth gangs, through the new regional protocol for the protection of minors.
The indicators included so that professionals can detect these problems from their consultations are no longer just physical. «An abdominal pain that does not meet specific pathology criteria, for example, you have to raise the alert and ask for another way. More than the physical symptom, we often see
changes in behavior
. The family comes and tells you about it, above all, in this case more of teenagers, which is what we see.