Juan Llorente launched Gomuta in 2019, a digital platform aimed at people with mental illness. Its aim is to improve the quality of life of these people through various activities. However, little by little, Gomuta has opened up to new groups, as Juan told us in this interview.

What is Gomuta?
Gomuta is a digital platform where you can find information about social entities, mental health news, or individual mental health professionals.

What are the goals?
What we have on the website and what we always try to say is that we try to improve people’s quality of life. We always use new technologies for this, that is the basis of our work. We also want to break the digital divide suffered by certain groups, such as people with mental disorders or social exclusion, by improving their quality of life, learning and communication between equals.

How did you come up with the idea?
I study Social Education and I saw a very big problem in people from different groups, such as those with mental health problems or suffering from social exclusion, on the one hand, who did not handle new technologies and on the other, who had communication problems in daily life. They had a very short life. His life was to go to the association that was next to his house, to spend the day there, to be with the people who were there, to return to his house and they were no longer doing anything else. Then it occurred to me that using new technologies they could connect with people from different associations, with very similar or similar pathologies, and communicate.

Who is it aimed at?
It was initially aimed at people with mental health problems, but we had a very good experience and then what we tried to do was open this project to different groups. Right now we are trying to work with the Bizkaia Freedom Prostitution Association to adapt the project, with the town councils, the elderly ... that is, any group that needs some that we can cover.

What kind of activities do you do?
On the one hand, we have the public part, where we can contact a professional, the news ... and then there is the part where we contact the councils and associations, and we offer them a private forum where users can communicate. These people have problems with new technologies, we offer them a communication platform, we do face-to-face classes, and in addition to using the platform, we give them other things, such as empowerment, self-knowledge, use of social networks ... we also worked with people with schizophrenia and those at risk of social exclusion.

What are some of the most common mental health problems you encounter?
Especially 15 to 25 year olds come to us every day because of Covid problem and depression and anxiety problems. The profile of someone who goes to a psychologist or psychiatrist is changing. He used to be a middle-aged person and is now becoming younger. And there are more people with mental problems on a daily basis than those with long-term cognitive impairments such as Alzheimer’s or dementia, because eventually people experience more every day.

Do you think the pandemic has exacerbated these types of problems?
Yes. People work with routines. So when you get out of their habits, their life becomes very complicated. Young people have gone into depression and anxiety in many cases, and people with previous illnesses such as Alzheimer’s, dementia or schizophrenia have a problem because they can’t lead a normal life, they can’t go to their association ... Then add to all the problems they had to break the routine to them, unable to lead a normal life.

Is there a social stigma towards people with mental health problems?
Yes, but I also tell you that the stigma towards these types of people is improving. I think it’s less every day, they look better and in a more natural way, because of films like ‘Campeones’, they do them a lot of good. But the reality is that there is a lot of stigma and when I say that I will work with people with schizophrenia, for example, they may say they are “crazy,” “they will stab you,” or “be careful,” and people have mental health issues, no more. They will not hurt or hurt you.

What prejudices should we remove about people with mental health problems?
All. If I tell you that I have cancer, you will have no prejudice against me because cancer is a very normalized disease. So if I tell you that I have schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, or depression, don’t treat me any other way. Treat me the same and the way you would with anyone. They are normal people and you should have nothing against them. Call by name and ignore this mental health problem.

How do you see the future in this issue?
The longer humans live, the greater the number of diseases associated with this age and will continue to multiply, and if there is no cure for Alzheimer’s, it will be a problem. Overall, I think the stigma is decreasing and will be less so over time as more are known and there is more normalization. But mental health problems are related to people’s survival, and not finding a cure will create many problems in the future. For example, a person with Alzheimer’s is a very high expense in terms of medications, caregivers, day care, given that this family greatly reduces their life. So looking to the future, there will have to be more spending on health.

What is the best and worst thing about starting a business?
Bad, bureaucracy. They ask for a lot of paperwork, invoices, the subject of the consultant, everything, and also, for those of us who have started with grants, they ask us a lot of paperwork to justify everything. So the worst are the bureaucracy and the ignorance I had. I didn't study BMA and I had no idea how to be autonomous, how counseling works ...
And best of all, you can guide things the way you want. I think you work more than a normal job, but in the end you have your own schedule, you can guide things the way you want ... you’re freer.

What advice would you give to new entrepreneurs?
It may seem very typical to you, but actually do something you like. Just like when you’re going to learn something, I recommend you do something you enjoy, I don’t recommend you learn something for money or because your family or friends tell you to learn it. If you want to start, it doesn't matter. If you want to do it because it’s a very good niche that gives you a lot of money, go ahead, get rich, or do whatever you want, I think it’s completely legal. But you will devote many hours to it, it will be a part of your life, you will go to bed many days thinking about what you need to do ... Do something you like and move on. If you don’t like it, even if you make a lot of money, I think it won’t be worth it and you’ll burn it. You’ll have to spend many hours creating something from scratch and as things have gone very well, there have been some really bad moments, because of Covid, like everyone else, we’ve had to stop, but I like it a lot and I’m going to keep going.

What future projects do you have?
Right now, try to keep increasing this. I think we have found a very good platform, a very good niche, to keep opening up, to get in touch with municipalities ... People have realized after Covid that new technologies are the future, adapt or die. So for now, keep scaling, keep getting new people into the project, new features, improve the web, grow on social media ... Be ambitious but with your head, and don’t get into new things. Try to focus on that, improve and see you in the future.