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Mens Sana

2020-2-RO01-KA105-0805232020Youth mobilityfinalized
Countries: RO|PL|HU|MK|ES|IT|HR|EL|BG · Grant: €12,922.06
Inclusion - equityHealth and wellbeing

Objectives

The number of young people suffering from depressive episodes, anxiety and suicide attempts is increasing, and cases are becoming increasingly alarming in most countries. Young people struggle in a society with a lot of challenges and pressure beginning with the questions of identity as who am I, what abilities and skills do I have, what competences can I develop, how can I integrate myself in a competitive world with high expectations and how can I identify those opportunities among so much information. Unfortunately, the support provided regarding this topic is very low. Formal education does not cover this area of skills development that could help young people to be aware and manage their emotions and take care of their mental health. In addition, most parents tend to treat young people's anxiety and depression as "adolescent stages" and fail to provide the emotional support needed to overcome these emotional states. Youth organizations, through the non-formal framework they provide to young people, could be a good support in addressing mental health issues, but the lack of training and knowledge in the field creates the impression that this topic can be addressed only by people certified in field, but what we intend is to focus on prevention of depression, anxiety, suicide attempts and not on healing. Therefore, through this project we want to offer youth workers a set of accessible and effective methods to help young people develop emotional intelligence and to prevent mental health problems, at the same time, to contribute to educating the population that continues to perceive emotional problems as a taboo subject, difficult to approach. We will create a safe space in which we will discuss emotional intelligence as an important predictor of stress resilience and mental health. We will address the most common emotional issues such as depression, anxiety and suicide, which are the signs by which we can recognize them, how we can act and where we can go for help. Youth workers will receive methodological support and develop the skills needed to return to their communities to conduct workshops where they will teach young people basic methods for preventing emotional problems and developing resistance to stress. The aim of the project is to increase the capacity of youth organizations to address mental health issues among young people, and the objectives: Raise awareness in 9 youth organizations on the importance of addressing mental health issues in the process of personal development and social integration of young people, by acquiring knowledge about mental health problems and understanding their negative effects on young people, over a period of 6 days. Another objective of the project is to develop the skills of 27 youth workers from 9 youth organizations to develop the emotional intelligence of young people and thus, to prevent their emotional problems, by acquiring working methods and developing the skills to apply them for a period of 6 days.

Project partners (9)