Insults, hours on their phones, and locked in their rooms: how to tell when teenagers need “emotional first aid”

Recent media coverage highlights urgent concerns surrounding adolescent mental health and family protection dynamics. In Spain, mental health has emerged as a major societal issue, with approximately 20% of the population seeking professional help in the past year due to conditions like stress and anxiety, prompting discussions on how to identify when teenagers require emotional first aid.

Simultaneously, in Navarrete, Dominican Republic, the death of Yosnely Álvarez has raised serious questions regarding family protection and the welfare of adolescents living apart from their parents. The tragedy involves two teenagers whose lives occurred outside daily parental coexistence, resulting in one fatality in the Yaque del Norte river and another who is a 16-year-old single mother.