The MP who wants Errejón to go to the doctor

In the midst of the controversy over the call for early elections in the Community of Madrid, Más País MP Iñigo Errejón made an intervention in the Spanish Parliament on Wednesday to defend the importance of treating mental illness in the midst of a pandemic. "We have to double the number of psychologists in public health because someone to accompany you when you're alone and you're having a terrible time cannot only be a luxury for those who can afford it," said Errejón, before a People's Party MP shouted: "Go to the doctor!" That cry summed up both the tavern-like atmosphere that prevails in the Spanish Parliament, where their lordships behave more like hooligans than as supposedly enlightened people who have to settle their conflicts through words, as well as the lack of respect towards a group that is constantly stigmatised through public discourse: people suffering from mental illness.

The positive side of the controversy is that, with the wave of indignation caused by the comment (which recalled that "fuck them" aimed at the unemployed pronounced in 2012 by another People's Party MP, Andrea Fabra, daughter of Carlos Fabra), its author, Carmelo Romero, had no choice but to apologise to Errejón and accept that his phrase had been "unfortunate". This anecdote, however, is representative of the stigma that still weighs on this type of condition, despite the fact that it is increasingly accepted that everyone is susceptible to some episode, for example of depression, throughout their lives. Even so, it is common for the political class, in their exchange of accusations, to refer to "madmen" or to make jokes about their opponents by questioning their mental health. That is why it would be urgent that all of us together, starting with politicians, banish from our language all derogatory allusions referring to mental illnesses. This social stigma aggravates even further the affectation and hinders the recovery, since often patients do not go to the specialist until they are already in a very advanced stage. There is nothing wrong with going to a psychologist or psychiatrist. What's more, it is probably the way to save us from future health problems in other areas.

That said, it must be said that Errejón touched on a particularly relevant issue that we have already addressed many times at ARA. It is one of the invisible effects of the pandemic, due to lockdowns and restrictions, and has hit the youngest the hardest, who overnight saw how all their spaces for socialising were closed. Even before the pandemic, this was one of the weak points of the public health system, but after coronavirus it has become clear that strengthening it is a peremptory necessity. Currently, it can take months to get an appointment with a psychologist in the public health system, and then the appointments are too far apart, so that they are not effective. And that's why the only people who get the right treatment are those who can afford it.