“My son will go to prison for the fifth time because Ibiza has no centre to treat him”: the desperate plea of the mother of a young man with dual pathology

“My son, who has dual pathology, will be admitted to prison for the fifth time because there is no suitable centre in Ibiza where his illness can be treated”. This is the moving complaint made by Antonia Colomar, the mother of a young man with this condition, which combines mental illness with addiction. Colomar, who was president of the Dual Pathology Association of Ibiza and Formentera, Aspadif, denounces in a letter sent to this newspaper “the total lack of support for people with dual pathology and their families”.

Colomar explains what the condition involves: “These are people diagnosed with a serious mental illness who have subsequently developed an addiction, usually to drugs, but it can also be to alcohol, gambling, sex...”.

This mother points directly to the Consell de Ibiza as being responsible for the situation her son is in. She recalls that in 2019 the president of the Consell de Ibiza, Vicent Marí, and the island councillor for Social Welfare, Carolina Escandell, “promised that Ibiza would have a centre for people with dual pathology”.

“Seven years have passed since they both took office, and to date that promise has still not been fulfilled. It has been forgotten in a drawer, to the despair of families who have someone with this condition at home”, Colomar continues.

Daily life with a person with dual pathology: “Living together becomes dangerous”

The mother explains the difficulties involved in “living with” people affected by this condition. “It is even harder to get them to follow their treatment when there is no residential centre in Ibiza”, Colomar continues. She stresses that, at times, living together at home “becomes dangerous” because of the behaviour of the patients and that, on some occasions, “there is no choice but to call the police”.

When officers arrive, they usually “take the patient to the duty court, where the judge issues a restraining order”. This measure, she says, only makes the situation worse: “It leaves the patient unprotected, wandering the streets, living in hardship and almost certainly committing crimes”.

In this situation, those affected often have no option but to breach that restraining order. “And if they breach the restraining order — because we must remember that these are people with a mental illness and an addiction — judges have no choice but to send them to prison”.

The solution to prevent this from happening, Antonia says, is a specific residential centre for these patients, a resource that is “so necessary that Ibizan families have been demanding it for more than 25 years”.

“Broken promises” from the Consell

“The current president of the Consell de Ibiza, together with his councillor for Social Services, committed to carrying out all the necessary procedures with the Balearic Government so that, between them, this much-needed centre could be created. Several meetings have been held with Aspadif, but so far everything has remained broken promises, while these patients remain on the streets and their families become ill because of this cruel and unbearable situation”, Antonia Colomar’s letter continues.

She points out that “at least” during Francina Armengol’s term as head of the Balearic Government, after many demands from families, the 'Psychiatry Unit and Day Centre for Dual Pathology at Can Misses Hospital' was created.

Although this resource was a step forward, it is “insufficient for the most chronic patients, who need to go to a residential centre where they can be cared for every day”. “But it is something”, reflects the former president of Aspadif, who cannot help thinking about the future: “Let us think about what will happen when their parents die. If this is not resolved soon, many will end up homeless”.

“We feel mistreated and forgotten, watching as our taxes and the efforts of our politicians are spent on things that are not as urgent and on those who come from outside”, she denounces.

Colomar recalls the work carried out by Lydia Jurado when she headed the island’s Social Welfare department during the last progressive legislature at the Consell de Ibiza: “She fought until she managed to open a supervised flat for these patients, a flat granted in the roads department building, owned by the Consell de Ibiza, and managed by Apfem, until they had to leave when renovation work began on the building”.

Colomar says that, “apparently”, the flat will not be returned to them, according to the information they have received.

She explains that, “after having to leave the flat in the roads department building”, Apfem looked for another flat to accommodate its users. This flat is located in Ibiza town and has eight places, according to Colomar’s version, who says that two of them have been empty “for more than a year”.

This, the mother says, is because the Balearic Government “is not processing files”. “Apparently, this is an issue that does not interest them, while there are many people with mental illness on the streets who have also been on a waiting list for more than a year to access one of these places in a supervised flat”, continues the text sent by Antonia Colomar.

She also points out that a single flat “is not enough”. “Ibiza needs more flats for people with mental illness, places that the Balearic Government does not currently plan to increase either”, she adds.

The Consell denies the accusations and promises a flat exclusively for dual pathology

The Consell de Ibiza says it cannot comment on “specific cases”, such as the one denounced by this mother, and stresses that it is in contact with Aspadif: “They are fully aware of everything that is being done”.

The institution also highlights that, “for the first time”, Ibiza will have a flat entirely dedicated to people affected by dual pathology in the roads department building. “Once the works are completed, the flat will be handed over to the Balearic Ministry of Social Services, and it may only be used for this purpose”.

“It will be a resource that, until now, has never existed on the island of Ibiza”. The Consell also recalls that, in addition to the “social side”, dual pathology also has a medical side.

“The creation and expansion of new resources for dual pathology and for mental health patients in Ibiza remains unfinished business for past and present politicians. Let us hope we do not have to wait for future politicians to put an end to these shortcomings and to have this urgently needed centre”, says Antonia Colomar, who explains that she has sent the same letter to the Consell de Ibiza and the Balearic Government.

In the case of the Consell, she says she sent it “so that it remembers its promise”. In the case of the Balearic Government, she sent it to ask for “greater involvement and investment in the creation of mental health resources”.

“This centre for dual pathology and new supervised flats in Ibiza are essential. We cannot continue waiting for future legislatures”, Colomar concludes.