This morning the Zurrunbiloa project was presented in the Ernest Lluch Hall of Events in Donostia-San Sebastián, which aims to highlight the mental health of young people. Jon Abril Olaetxea, general coordinator of Elhuyar, Jose Antonio Hidalgo Manga, vice-president of Danobatgroup, Garazi Andonegi Beristain and Aitziber Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, responsible for the Zurrunbiloa project, the young Rajaroa Colás Fariña, Eneko Experts and representatives of institutions involved in the project, such as EITB and Elgoibar City Hall, among others, have also attended.

The mental health of young people is a complex issue that compels us in the social sphere. There is nothing else to see: one in five young Basques is diagnosed with a mental health disorder. The consumption of anxiolytics has also increased sixfold among young people. The age at which anxiolytics are prescribed to girls is noteworthy: 11-12 years. With the aim of getting to know what is happening and listening to young people carefully, Elhuyar has addressed this issue with the support of Danobatgroup and has created the Zurrunbiloa project.

This project is divided into three phases, and its objective is to know what is happening with the mental health of young people and to open avenues for their transformation. In the first phase, with the collaboration of experts and four young people who have provided their testimonies, a series of five audio-visual events has been created. In the second phase, a local diagnosis will be made in Elgoibar; and in the third phase the community, society will be given prominence.

In the five audiovisual programs of the first phase, four young people and ten experts have been given a voice to take into account the view of young people in the face of the juvenile mental health crisis. Some experts from the field of sociology, neuroscience, pharmacy, psychology, sexology, psychiatry, teaching or digital health, for example, have provided a constructive view of science. They all agree: this crisis has a social roots.

As far as young people are concerned, the audiovisual media have gathered the direct testimonies of four young people: Aroa (18 years), Eneko (23 years), Garazi (22 years) and Laura (24 years). Now they want to rebuild themselves and tell what they've learned. As the experts themselves confess, their story is moving, generous and very sincere.

In addition to audiovisuals, we also have the website zurrunbiloa.eus as of today. Interviews with experts, advice or proposals for parents and young people, support resources and more advanced scientific content can be consulted. The more technical explanations about the development of adolescents will also have their space on the web.

In this first phase, the project has been sponsored by ETB, so audiovisual works can be seen both on the Primeran platform and on ETB, as well as on the web zurrunbiloa.eus. The first chapter will be released on 25 February in zurrunbiloa.eus, PRIMERAN and Euskal Telebista (ETB1, 23:45). A chapter will then be issued every Tuesday. The "Biba Zuek" programme will also analyse the contents, on Tuesdays, and the social networks of Elhuyar and EITB will disseminate the audiovisual media.

Second and third phases

It is a crisis of social roots, so in a second phase it is about creating resources to respond from the community. Therefore, a locality has been selected, Elgoibar (Gipuzkoa), and a local diagnosis will be made. First, all the public resources existing in the city around mental health will be described. The diagnosis of young people in schools will then be initiated.

To this end, the young people who have offered their testimonies in the audiovisual of the Zurrunbiloa project will share their first-hand experiences with the adolescents of Elgoibar, and the perception of the latter will be collected. Finally, working sessions will be held with agents working with adolescents in Elgoibar. The reading that these agents have made of the emotional well-being of youth in the village will be collected. Through this general photograph, the main problems and their agents will be identified, and training sessions will be offered at the local level aimed at parents, mothers, educators, technical staff, etc.

The third phase of the project will give prominence to the community, to society. Based on the conclusions collected during two years, a process of reflection will be opened with the public agents working with adolescents in the municipality, taking into account leisure, sport, education, culture, etc. The objective will be to identify the challenges in society to preserve the emotional well-being of adolescents, in order to design future interventions.

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Young people and researchers involved in the project:

The four young people: Aroa Colás Fariña, 18 years old. Eneko Sagastume Rajado, 23 years. Garazi Olaizola Badiola, 22 years. Laura De la Iglesia Sánchez, 24 years old.

Experts in different fields: Jon García Ormaza (psychiatrist), Maitane Ormazabal Esnaola (psychologist), Xabi Martínez Mendia (pharmacist), Nerea Lertxundi Iribar (neuropsychologist), Amaia Baciggris De la Hera (sociologist), Nahia Idoiaga Mondragon (evolutionary psychologist),