Teachers, healthcare personnel, social workers, security forces, and emergency responders are among the groups dedicated to caring for society, yet they often face pressures and risks to their mental health. A course at the Adeje Summer University, directed by Antonio Rodríguez Hernández from the Department of Evolutionary and Educational Psychology at the University of La Laguna, aims to answer the question of who cares for these caregivers.
Rodríguez Hernández explains that the training addresses how to manage emotional distress to prevent it from causing suffering. "Distress will always be present, as it is associated not only with the specific profession but with this society of distress we live in," he states, criticizing the notion of a "well-being society" as a "chimera" that breeds frustration.
The course delves into the concept of "bienser" (well-being), which involves engaging with distress without aiming to eliminate it, exercising it "as if it were a muscle." Self-care emerges as a priority: "Each individual must commit to themselves to take on the challenge of self-care, because if we wait for contextual and institutional conditions to provide that care, it will likely not be guaranteed."
Given the burden that distress can impose, the need for community and collective care is emphasized. "This is precisely what we are doing here in the course: I meet someone like me, another professional with whom I can compare my own experience in reciprocity," says Rodríguez. The goal is to create "small cells of co-care," reminding that "this co-care must start with oneself, because you cannot give what you do not have."
The course encourages caregiving staff to be "emotionally loyal to themselves," choosing between being a "suffering victim" or a "resilient survivor" who prioritizes their own well-being before committing to others.
During the session, the course co-director, psychiatrist Eduardo Vera Barrios, detailed the characteristics, symptoms, and harmful effects of sustained distress, such as anxiety, depression, and the "burnout" syndrome, which is particularly applicable to caregiving personnel.
Antonio Rodríguez also points to depersonalization as an adverse effect, where some individuals emotionally detach from others to defend themselves against distress, treating them "as something that has nothing to do with what I might feel." This "empathic stress" requires finding a balance between involvement and professional detachment.
