The Government presented the Strategic Plan for Emotional Well-being and Mental Health this Thursday, aiming to address the significant increase in mental health conditions, giving greater importance to Primary Care and moving toward more local, community-based, and inclusive care. The President of the Government, Marga Prohens, accompanied by the Regional Minister of Health, Manuela Garcia; the Regional Minister of Education, Antoni Vera; the Regional Minister of Families, Social Welfare, and Dependency Care, Sandra Fernández; the Director General of Mental Health, Carme Bosch; and the Director of Early Childhood, Diversity Care, and Educational Improvement, Neus Riera, presented the plan to organizations working in the field of mental health in the Balearic Islands. One of the objectives is for all health centers in the Balearic Islands to have a psychologist by October 2026.

The application of electroshock (electroconvulsive therapy) to the brain is a traditionally controversial procedure that is still used in the field of psychiatry, albeit in a controlled and limited manner. The film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, released in 1975, shows Randle McMurphy, played by Jack Nicholson, undergoing brutal therapy, with shocks that cause him to convulse violently while numerous people endure. All of this, while he is awake and fully aware of what is being done to him. The spectacular images remain in the imagination of an entire generation, who still remember the film when they hear about electroconvulsive therapy. However, it bears little resemblance to current reality. "It lasts for a minute, it's effective, and the patient doesn't realize it," says Joaquín López, a psychiatrist at Son Espases Hospital.

In 2024, 1,020 involuntary psychiatric admissions were recorded in the Balearic Islands, more than half of which (575) took place at Son Espases. Following behind were Son Llàtzer, with 190; Manacor Hospital, with 118; Inca Hospital, with 106; Mateu Orfila Hospital, with 19; and Can Misses, which had 12 such admissions. According to the health experts consulted, this figure has remained stable over the years. What has worsened is the severity of the problems. Most admissions are for psychosis. "Now there are many psychotic episodes because many people are using synthetic drugs. The severity of what we see has increased significantly. The inpatient units, the mental health units... are all full," says Carme Canet, the Psychiatric Nursing Supervisor at Son Llàtzer Hospital.