Categories Original Advanced Spanish Podcasts

Advanced Spanish Podcast 21 – Mental Health


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Day 21 of the Spanish sponsored podcast marathon to help raise money for charities in India and the UK. Click here for more info on this charity series.

Today’s Notes – Marina talks to her friend Belen. The sound quality is not so good on this podcast so I have transcribed some notes below from the podcast, to help you as you listen. Let us know how it goes:

Belen is currently working in Toledo 3 days a week in a hospital. She also works 2 days in a health centre for outpatients (pacientes ambulatorios). One afternoon a week she has a private consultation.

What is the main mental illness in Spain? Depression is the predominant illness in Spain. What about different professions. Some professions have more problems than others. There are lots of teachers with anxiety problems. Security guards (guardias de seguridad) that have to deal with a lot of responsibility suddenly and can’t cope. Like the one who killed his two friends recently… Teachers suffer from lack of respect and are at odds with the parents… it’s not like the old days. Hard to educate the kids of today…

What’s the difference between patients in small towns and Madrid? A patient last week from a small village couldn’t read. They use different language too… rilar instead of temblar, for example.

Life in Spain is more relaxed and outgoing. Does that affect the type of mental illness in Spain? Percentages across Europe for many diseases such as schizophrenia are the same. In some small countries in South America there is much less depression, but in Europe it’s all quite similar. In colder countries, like Austria and Finland, the suicide rate is double that in Mediterranean countries.

Belen would like to work in public hospitals with patients, but also in private sessions with families – specializing in family psychology – solving communication problems with parents and children.

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