Mental health shortcomings
Although younger generations are also the ones that speak more of mental health and have broken old stigmas about going to the psychologist or psychiatrist, this does not always translate into timely care because access to mental health in Mexico is still limited.
Arnaud, professor of psychiatry at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, estimates that there are hardly any Three psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants in the country. Mexico City concentrates a rate of 22 psychiatrists, and Nuevo León, with six psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants. But in several states of the country there are only five specialists for the entire federative entity.
In addition, the country allocates 1.3% of the budget to mental health issues, when WHO recommends an investment of 5%.
“Many people who do need, do need, do not find spaces in consultations. The services at public level are saturated. We have to train the first level of care, to the general practitioner, so that it begins to identify mental health problems,” he says.
The irruption of AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) blooms in this context of deficiencies. Currently, several people use content generating bots such as a therapist, to whom they ask for advice or recommendations.
For several patients this is useful, says the expert. Even two applications of this type have been approved by the Food and Medicines Administration (FDA) of the United States.
However, for the most vulnerable patients, such as those with some psychotic disorder or with suicidal ideations, AI is not a safe option.
“We are not yet at the time for AI to identify whether what they say is in the context of the psychotic or the unreal. Because artificial intelligence will always be empathic and, sometimes, that empathy can worsen the patient’s psychotic state, which already happened with this boy who committed suicide in the United States,” he exemplifies.
The specialist refers to the case of Adam Raine, a 16 -year -old teenager who committed suicide in California at the beginning of this year. His family discovered very late that he had been talking with AI for months about ending his life. Although Chat Bot recommended sharing their emotions with someone else and contacting help lines, he also shared information on suicide methods, so his parents sued the company.
“Preventing suicide implies talking about mental health without prejudice. The digital world can be a support space, but also of despair. We must act before loneliness and virtual pressure become irreversible sentences,” says Nanni.
The cyberbullying, constant comparison and exposure to hate speeches in social networks have increased vulnerability, especially among adolescents, who live in a digital ecosystem where validation depends on external approval, and social comparison seriously impacts their self -esteem.
Ricardo Nanni Alvarado, Psychiatrist and General Director of Grupo Punto de Partida, AC
Arnaud emphasizes that a basic method of suicide prevention is to talk about this problem, about the emotions that are experienced. If a person already has suicidal ideation or He has had a suicide attempt, must be valued immediately in an emergency service by a psychiatrist or for a mental health expert.
“It is shown that, if someone has the desire to want to die and someone asks if they are thinking about it, so it decreases the risk of committing suicide,” he explains.
Psychiatrists also recommend detecting alert signals: phrases such as “It is not worth living”, changes in behavior, isolation, giving belongings or investigating suicide methods, and emotional expressions of hopelessness. In adolescents, self -injuries and publications in social networks are added about death.
