Growing up amidst violence: Participatory mapping of social ecologies of mental health support for young people on Colombia’s Pacific Coast

The municipalities of Quibdó, Buenaventura and Tumaco on Colombia’s Pacific Coast have been affected by long-term violence and inequality. In spite of the signing of the peace agreement with the FARC guerrillas in 2016, violence by different armed groups continues to persist. Growing up in a context where social relations have become marked by violence can have severe impacts on emotional wellbeing, which in turn can affect opportunities for personal and community development. Access to mental health care in this context should be a basic human right, essential for promoting individual and group agency to overcome the effects of conflict. In practice, it is often inaccessible. This paper discusses how young people experience mental health in Colombia’s conflict-affected Pacific region. It uses participatory and arts-based research methods to centre the experiences and perspectives of young people in Quibdó. Based on their insights, and those of accompanying organisations, the paper describes the major mental health issues faced, and the support networks available and desired by young people. It describes how mental health care could be delivered through networks of interconnected public, private and community-based services, and which elements are essential to adapt such networks to relevant age, gender and ethnic characteristics, in order to meet human rights standards. This paper presents the initial results of an ongoing three-year research project carried out by the Universidad de Los Andes (Colombia) and the University of Birmingham (UK). Using an ecological systems approach, it identifies lessons learned on how to overcome gaps in mental health care provision in conflict regions, specifically for young people, a group frequently overlooked in mental health support.