Polaris Seal: a commitment from mental health patient associations to people with depression

The Polaris Project, an initiative carried out by AVIFES, the Biscayan Association of Relatives and People with Mental Illness, with the collaboration of Janssen, aims to promote and improve the approach to major depression and suicide by patient associations working in the field of mental health. To this end, it has launched the Polaris Seal to encourage these organizations to demonstrate their commitment to depression.

Currently, there are almost 50 patient associations specializing in mental health, and 134 professionals from these associations (psychologists, social workers…) who have been trained in major depression and suicide prevention through the Polaris Training Classroom.

The intention is to strengthen the commitment and training of entities on this path undertaken in 2019, taking steps towards new actions and initiatives to implement psychological interventions, detecting areas for improvement and the necessary support to achieve new milestones.

In this way, the AVIFES professional team, as experts in the field, will support and accompany entities that want to take on challenges and advance until they are recognized and accredited as expert organizations in depression.. The Polaris Seal will have the endorsement and recognition of various entities in the health and university fields. Three different levels of accreditation have been established, which can be achieved as compliance with a series of criteria that have been established and which are considered appropriate in each of the phases are evaluated both internally and externally.

The World Health Organization (WHO) already outlines Spain as the fourth European country with the highest prevalence of depression, a disease that affects more than 300 million people worldwide and is already considered the leading global cause of disability. and the main risk factor for suicide.

According to data from the Spanish Society of Psychiatry and Mental Health (SEPSM), between 8% and 15% of people will suffer from depression throughout their lives and, of those who suffer from it, close to 60% will suffer at least , a relapse. It is, therefore, a public health problem, which does not understand age, because it can affect both young people and the elderly, but gender because it has a greater presence among women.

One of the main problems that depression entails is that it affects all areas of a person's life, both at a personal, family and work level, causing behavioral or thought disorders.. This may explain why many cases of depression end in suicidal behavior, since, in fact, it is estimated that 90% of people who take their own lives have a mental health problem, mainly depression.

Although in recent years, and especially after the coronavirus pandemic, social awareness of the importance of addressing mental health problems has increased, people who suffer from depression continue to feel stigmatized in many cases, which impairs the diagnosis and treatment of the same.

In addition, and according to the results obtained in the Polaris Report, the germ of this project, in which 15 patient associations and five psychiatrists and expert mental health professionals participated, the patient organizations themselves demand better training for their professionals to give a optimal response to cases of depression or suicide attempts that approach these organizations. A training that can turn them into allies and quality support for health professionals.