Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
According to the Ministry of Health, the use of antidepressants among young women and teenage girls in Spain has increased dramatically in the past three years.
Experts believe that the gender gap can be attributed to the bias of the healthcare system, as doctors treat women twice as much for mental health problems as they do men.
Also, they believe that the increased pill-popping is due to the discrimination and violence experienced by young women.
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Ministry of Health data revealed that twice as many females between 15 and 19 years old use anti-depressants than males.
The gender divide is even wider among women aged 20-24.
Sociology professor from the University of the Basque Country, Amaia Bagacilupe, said that taking anti-depressants is being ‘normalised’.
She thinks that young women over-medicate, following what their mothers teach them and taking advantage of the ease with which they can get medicines at pharmacies.
The health system is now prescribing more pills to treat conditions that used to be managed by non-medical methods such as family support, community networks and dialogue. People want quick results and are therefore more inclined towards taking more pills.
Amaia bagacilupe is also of the opinion that the mental health issue has been trivialized.
“Nowadays it is common to hear young people talk about different types of disorders which in some way trivialises this aspect of mental health in a way that makes it feel routine to take anti-depressives,· she added.
