Accesses for pathologies of neuropsychiatric interest increased by 84% compared to the pre-Covid period. This wave is scary. We are trained to deal with pain, suffering, but this time it is different, the numbers are growing exponentially. The intervention of Giusi Sellitto, child neuropsychiatrist doctor, Neuropsychiatry Child and Adolescent Unit Asst-Santi Paolo e Carlo, Milan
In the last year there has been a boom in access by minors in emergency rooms for neuropsychiatric reasons. This is revealed by the data of a survey by the Italian Society of Pediatrics (Sip) conducted in 9 Italian regions (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lazio, Liguria, Lombardy, Marche, Umbria). During the pandemic (March 2020-March 2021)
Accesses for pathologies of neuropsychiatric interest increased by 84% compared to the pre-Covid period.
In particular, accesses due to “suicidal ideation” increased by 147% followed by depression (+ 115%) and eating disorders (+ 78.4%). The regions in which a greater increase in accesses for childhood neuropsychiatric diseases was documented were Emilia-Romagna (+ 110%), Lazio (+ 107.1%) and Lombardy (+ 100%).
Even hospitalizations, with beds occupied at their maximum capacity for weeks, recorded an increase of almost 40%. Also in this case the main cause was suicidal ideation (+ 134%) followed by depression (+ 41.4%) and eating disorders (+ 31.4%).
And then there is the alarm of the Sinpia – Italian Society of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry – launched at the conclusion of the 29th National Congress of the Society held between 3 and 6 November in the presence of over 500 infantile neuropsychiatrists and more than 80 national and international speakers and moderators.
The pandemic seems to have emptied the lives of many young people of meaning. They suffer, but they do not tolerate suffering. They find relief by intentionally hurting themselves. And, in some cases, unfortunately not so rare today, they decide to end it all. They have no hope for the future, they don’t feel they can do it, they see death as the solution.
This wave is frightening, it makes your wrists tremble, it makes you damn, it makes you despair, it is distressing, it takes away sleep.
We are trained to treat pain, suffering, but this time it is different, the numbers are growing exponentially, they are many, too many.
It takes time for each of them, for their families, to revive their minds, put the pieces back together, their projects, try to turn those lights back on.
I have always considered ours to be a vocation rather than a profession, we don’t deal with cases, we deal with people.
Yet there is no space for everyone, there is no time for everyone, there are no beds for everyone.
Receiving constant requests from desperate parents who cannot find a place in public services for children with depressive disorders and neuropsychiatric disorders and failing to fulfill their requests is inhumane as well as unethical. We have sworn “to pursue the defense of life, the protection of human physical and mental health and the relief of suffering” it is unacceptable to keep repeating that we are unable to take care of them. It is unbearable.
It is a silent wave, we mental health workers are at the forefront, but without sufficient tools.
We are exposed to stress, desolation, pain and this puts us at great risk.
We are alone. It is a wave bigger than us, there is a need for reinforcements, resources, sharing, help groups.
The territorial response to these needs is extremely lacking, and there is a need to strengthen the NPIA services present in the area by guaranteeing all the necessary figures (neuropsychiatrists, psychologists, speech therapists, neuropsychomotricity therapists of the developmental age, nurses, social workers, educators professional).
There is a need to increase the number of beds in Npia in order to respond to the exponential increase in neuropsychiatric disorders.
We run out of time, we need to invest in national mental health services and programs. The brain is the most precious asset we have, in fact it is the brain that largely determines who we are and what we do, we have to deal with it now.