IVREA. Smaller and smaller and more closed.
And with even more complex cases to manage. The cry for help for children and adolescents comes from the complex structure of child neuropsychiatry of the ASL / To4. Which, as happens in the rest of the country, found itself facing in the first quarter of 2021 un an explosion of psychiatric disorders affecting children and young people, from eating disorders to depressions, acts of self-harm and suicide attempts. «Unfortunately we are already beyond the phase of prevention – explains the head of the structure, Dr. Paolo Cappa -, we are treating. And we would like to return to take the ailments in advance ».
2020, the year of the cloister
In 2020, the year of the cloister, the discomfort remained at home. Also thanks to the forced closure of activities for the Coronavirus emergency. «We had important blocks – explains Cappa -, we could not visit, only emergencies were guaranteed. We did a lot of back office work ».
The total number of patients in care fell from 4,250 in 2019 to 3,249 in 2020, with a number of first visits down by 35% compared to previous years (2,296 versus 1,495). The age group with the most access is that between 7 and 10 years: 917 small patients (almost 30% of the total), followed by 11-14 with 859. It is also significant that 37.5% of users of 2020 arrivals for disorders related to the learning area.
Among the disorders of the psychiatric area, however, only those of a food type increase, they were 31 in 2019, they become 32 in 2020. even aggressive -, decrease by 35% (from 129 to 84), internalizing ones – which lead the boy to withdraw inward, such as depression or social withdrawal – by 38% (from 108 to 67) and psychiatric – the most serious, which include suicide attempts and self-harm – even halved (from 44 to 22).
2021, Pandora’s box opens
As expected, however, with the resumption of activities, Pandora’s box has also opened. In particular, eating disorders are likely to double in 2021: in the first quarter they are already 16, projected to become 64, more than double compared to the previous two years.
The pathological affections of behavior directed towards the outside, on the other hand, seem to be decreasing: they are 25 in the first quarter, in projection, 19% more than in 2020, but still 23% lower than in 2019 and 31% in 2018. .
A worrying growth, however, is that of disorders that indicate a closure towards the inside of the boys: anxiety, phobias, depression, social withdrawal. There are already 37 in the first three months of this year, 148 projection, 120% more than in 2020, but above all 28% more than in 2019 and 23% more than in 2018.
The threshold of attention is even higher for true psychiatric disorders, which in addition to psychosis, include suicide ideas and attempts and self-harming behaviors in general. There are already 13 in the first quarter of 2021, in projection 52, or 16% more than in 2019 and 47% more than in 2018.
More and more complex problems
Beyond numbers, there is work and daily experience. «The perception we have from inside – explains Dr. Cappa – is that of an increase in cases and their complexity. These are disorders that often also occur in association. For this reason, management must never be mono-disciplinary ».
The trend that the data illuminates is of greater closure of the boys. «Depressive aspects have increased – explains Cappa -, social withdrawal, socio-pathia. These are subjects who already had difficulties and now have more and more. There is also an increase in intra-family conflict. The outcome of all this is self-damaging conduct and anticonservative behaviors ». The cloister seems to have had an influence, therefore. Families often are at the origin of the problem because in this type of disorder, Cappa recalls, there is always “a genetic-environmental component”. During the lockdown, however, they remained the only antenna in the area, failing the important help of the school. «There is never a single origin of the problem – concludes Cappa -, it is also a question of trends that have been underway for some time. The secret is to network: public, private, everyone. Parents need the community ».