During 2025, Adult Mental Health Units and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Units provided care to 82,456 people living in the province of Alicante, contributing to a total of 231,803 patients assisted across the Valencian Community.
Out of all individuals treated within the region, 131,560 were women and 100,243 were men. When broken down by province, alongside the figures for Alicante, 31,659 patients resided in Castellón and 117,375 lived in Valencia, while an additional 313 people resided outside of the Valencian Community.
These figures, which were published by the Ministry of Health to mark World Mental Health Day, also highlight a growing proportion of children and adolescents requiring specialised care.
Throughout 2025, these healthcare units supported 50,581 minors, accounting for 21% of all recorded cases. Bartolomé Pérez Gálvez, the Director General of Mental Health and Addictions, noted that roughly one in every five patients receiving treatment is a minor, and he emphasised the necessity of adapting care responses to suit this demographic.
According to Pérez Gálvez, the rising demand among children and teenagers calls for varying levels of care, ranging from outpatient appointments to day hospitals and, where necessary, dedicated hospitalisation units.
Early detection remains another key area of focus. At present, there are 23 Early Detection Units dedicated to mental health that connect with educational environments and are integrated directly into the mental health services of local health departments.
Between 2025 and the first half of 2026, these units assisted 4,615 schoolchildren and carried out upwards of 20,000 interventions in collaboration with educational centres and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Units.
To mark World Mental Health Day, observed annually on October 10th, the Ministry of Health has adopted this year’s slogan from the World Health Organization: “Listen to people with lived experience: real voices, real change.”
The Ministry integrates this viewpoint through the role of the Person with Lived Experience, which relies on a model of individualised peer support. It additionally provides training for expert patients as well as self-help programmes, allowing previously trained individuals who have faced mental health challenges to participate.
Pérez Gálvez argued that this form of support offers a complementary perspective alongside clinical care, helping to accompany individuals throughout their recovery journeys and fostering greater independence.
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