CESAG opens the academic year with a lecture on mental health

The Centro de Enseñanza Superior Alberta Giménez (CESAG), attached to the Universidad Pontificia Comillas, held its official opening ceremony for the academic year, which was attended by the Vice Rector for Organisation and Digital Transformation of the Universidad Pontificia Comillas, José María Ortiz; the President of QuirónSalud Baleares, Rosa María Regí; the General Director of QuirónSalud, Víctor Ribot; the Director of Nursing at Clínica Rotger, Magdalena Ginard; the General Secretary of Escola Catòlica, Toni Vives, and the Director of CESAG, Dr. Julia Violero. Professor Dr. Ángeles Durán gave the inaugural lecture entitled "Mental Health and life. Shared responsibility".

The director of CESAG, Julia Violero, welcomed the participants to the event and recalled the advances for women led by Mother Alberta at the end of the 19th century: "When she was 35 years old, she was the only woman in all the Balearic Islands who had the title of Senior Teacher". "Alberta plucked up her courage and accepted to direct the first Teacher Training College in Palma. CESAG is a continuation of those beginnings", she pointed out.

For his part, the Vice Rector of Comillas recalled that "the CESAG is the first and oldest private university centre in Mallorca" and that "the teaching degrees take up the baton of a centenary vocation for education, which began in 1872 with the first school for teachers in the Balearic Islands". Likewise, the Comillas Pontifical University originated in 1890 by order of Pope Leo XIII: "The founding moments are close," he pointed out. "We are committed to the humanistic and rational use of technology. We share values and we share impulses. We share a common future", he concluded.

Dr Ángeles Durán regretted that "every year there are 800,000 suicides in the world, which translates into one death every 40 seconds". The figures in Spain continue to rise. There were 4,100 in 2022, an average of 11 a day. "We are facing a social problem of tremendous importance," he warned. The incidence among young people has grown by 1,800% in the last decade due to three main causes: the pandemic, bullying and cyberbullying. He reviewed the latest research on technology and mental health, and concluded: "Mental health is an integral part of our overall wellbeing, and we must treat it as seriously as any other physical illness. Self-care and help-seeking are not signs of weakness, but acts of courage. So remember: ask for help and help.

After the speech, the students with the best records of the past year in each grade received their diplomas. They are Andrea Arévalo Pérez (Early Childhood Education), Margalida Arnaiz Buades (Primary Education), Joana Maria Pérez Morell (double degree in Early Childhood Education and Primary Education), Guillermo Amengual Jaume (Audiovisual Communication), Damián García Suñer (Journalism), Aina Maria Carbonell Bauzà (Advertising), Aina Escandell Almodóvar (double degree in Journalism and Audiovisual Communication) and Margalida María Vallbona García (Physical Activity and Sports Sciences).