Most mental disorders appear in adolescence, when the brain undergoes the most significant changes in its maturation process. However, their origin lies during brain development, in the mother's womb. An international team of researchers, including a Catalan presence, has discovered that many of the genes associated with autism, bipolar disorder, and depression are already functional during the initial stages of fetal development, during the creation of neurons. These genes are also linked to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The conclusions of the collaborative study between the Hospital del Mar Research Institute and Yale University were published this Friday in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

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.