The educational seminar “Technolog-AI in mental health and suicide prevention in young people and adolescents: challenges, opportunities, and applications,” organized by the ALENTAR-J-CM project, addressed the complex relationship between technology use and the deterioration of youth mental health. It was emphasized that the mobile phone should not be solely blamed and that AI, used correctly, can be a valuable tool in diagnosis and treatment.
The ALENTAR project, funded by the Regional Program for Science and Technology of the Community of Madrid, brings together professionals from UCM, the Polytechnic University, and the Autonomous University, along with hospitals such as Clínico San Carlos, Gregorio Marañón, and the Jiménez Díaz Foundation, as well as social organizations like Fad Juventud and the Teléfono de la Esperanza. According to Alejandro de la Torre, principal investigator of the Episam group at UCM, the project aims to apply AI to prevent and detect suicidal behaviors by analyzing voice tone, discourse, and social media posts.
Guillermo Lahera Forteza, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Alcalá, noted that the widespread perception that excessive screen time is the primary cause of adolescent mental health crises, popularized by Jonathan Haidt's book "The Anxious Generation," is not entirely accurate. While screens do have a negative impact, it is smaller than commonly believed and not the sole cause. Other factors such as substance abuse, bullying, and lack of sleep carry greater weight.
Lahera Forteza warned that this average impact hides the effect on the most vulnerable young people, for whom screens and social media do have a decisive influence. He identified four negative effects: displacement of other activities, social comparison, fragmentation of attention, and disconnection from social groups. He also alerted that social media algorithms can facilitate access to self-harm content, as 72% of those who self-harm report finding it without explicitly searching for it.
The professor acknowledged the difficulty of controlling mobile phone use, with the average age of access being 10.8 years. He proposed banning mobile phones in schools, regulating the minimum age for social media access, and promoting mental health apps. He stressed the importance of being attentive and asking young people about the type and intensity of their technological use, reminding that "the mobile phone should not be blamed for everything."
Alejandro de la Torre added that suicide is one of the four leading causes of death among young people globally. He attributed part of the increase to technology, social competitiveness, and the "dictatorship of the positive image" on social media. However, he reiterated that technology, particularly AI, can be a tool to assist mental health professionals, as "60 percent of adolescents with emotional disorders do not receive treatment."
