It was for the previous International Women’s Day campaign that the State Network of Women Mental Health Spain denounced the difficulties that women encounter in accessing the Spanish public health system. Through a series of infographics under the hashtag #SaludMentalFeminista they denounced the multiple violations they suffer.
One of the aspects claimed by the campaign is the overmedication of people with mental health problems, and especially women. In Spain, women are prescribed psychoactive drugs twice as often as men. Gender roles and the oversaturation of public health help to cause such overmedication. “The fact of being a woman has an influence, as there is a tendency to think that we are exaggerating, that we are hysterical,” Estefanía Arias, representative of the State Women’s Network, explains in a statement. Clara González, also belonging to the State Women’s Network, argues that “being read as a woman in a heteropatriarchal society, which dismisses as ‘crazy’ or ‘insane’ certain attitudes that are magnified in men, only manages to perpetuate the roles of genre”.
In this sense, the Network claims the need to integrate the gender perspective in mental health care, and provide public health with the necessary resources to avoid the saturation of primary care and the specialties of Psychology and Psychiatry.
Involuntary income and recovery process
Many people with mental health problems face multiple and systematic violations of their rights during involuntary admissions to the Spanish public health system.
According to González, women suffer specific violations during these admissions. “We tend to be infantilized and treated as ‘exaggerated’ or ‘unhinged’. As a person who has been admitted involuntarily, the violation of privacy, physical contact (giving a hug to a colleague who is having a hard time), and the lack of human treatment and tact in general, are what hurt me the most ”, she assures. In addition to the Network they denounce the lack of respect towards the privacy of the person when bathing, when checking personal objects, mechanical restraints…
For all this, the Network demands compliance with the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “It is essential to tend to zero containment and the progressive reduction of involuntary admissions in favor of other more effective measures and in accordance with human rights” they ask from the association.
Regarding the recovery process, the lack of resources in public health means that not enough attention is devoted to it and that it is not adapted to the needs of women. A community care model is needed that integrates the different socio-health resources, that places the person at the center of any intervention, and that offers responses to their individual needs, including the gender perspective.
“My psychiatrist did not inform me of the resources that I could access. He dedicated himself only to prescribe medication, ”recalls Arias. For her part, González encountered added difficulties: “Being a woman, overmedicated and very young, I only found myself in extreme situations that endangered my integrity and my health, since I always sought male reaffirmation and approval in my relationships.”
Obstacles to motherhood and precarious care
Another of the access difficulties encountered by women with mental health problems is stigma or lack of information about stopping medication if they want to become mothers.
This is the case of Elisabeth Lemos, another of the women representatives of the Network, who would like to be a mother in two years, having the support that she did not have at the time. “Society judged and stigmatized you for having a mental health problem, and wanting to be a mother was a crime,” she laments. Lemos denounces that “our right to decide whether we want to be mothers or not is constantly violated, and they judge us harshly to the point that, by taking away your medication and being vulnerable, they induce you to have an abortion.”
In the case of Clara González, it is clear that she does not want to be a mother. “I am tired of being infantilized and having capable and sane attitudes towards me. I don’t want that for my daughters and sons,” she says, and recalls: “There are difficulties for pregnant people who want to be mothers and who have a mental disorder and are prescribed medication, for the simple fact that there are no studies on how this affects pregnancy.
The solution would be to promote public information, guidance and support services with a gender perspective.or about motherhood and, where appropriate, family planning that supports women in the decision-making process in conditions of equality and freedom.
Lastly, the State Women’s Network denounces that the perpetuation of gender roles and the lack of public resources affects caregivers, usually women, in the unpaid private sector, which can impact their mental health. “The role of caregiver is worthy, but it is not always a free choice,” says González. The Red claims a non-sexist education focused on inclusion, co-responsibility and careas well as public resources that prevent the weight of this responsibility from falling mainly on women.
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