Mental disorders, young people and women increasingly at risk but assistance is not enough – breaking latest news

The pandemic has (not a little) worsened an already critical picture: if mental health was bringing up the rear in health care in Italydiscounting the stigma that still surrounds mental disorders, today still low on resources but patients who would need treatment show no signs of decreasing, on the contrary they are increasing. Especially among young people, as was underlined during a recent meeting in the Senate by experts from the Italian Society of Social Psychiatry (Sips) and the Italian Society of Psychiatry – Lazio Section.

Cases on the rise

Mental disorders have an onset usually between 15 and 35 years of age, which is becoming increasingly precocious; moreover, in recent years the incidence rates have almost doubled also due to the pandemic, which has caused great discomfort which often led to illness, especially among the youngest.
Depression, bipolar and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia are among the most frequent diagnoses and according to data from the Ministry of Health in 2021 there was an overall increase of 6.9 per cent of people assisted for mental health problems compared to 2020, of which more than half are women, with a number of accesses to the emergency room for psychiatric pathologies equal to 3.3 per cent of the total accesses at national level. In the face of this growing need for mental health care, the resources but also the attention devoted to these issues are still scarce.

More attention is needed

As he points out Andrew Fiorillopsychiatrist of the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli of Naples and president of Sips, the criticisms are many, but perhaps one of the most important even today, the proper emphasis is not given to these pathologies. We still have to make people understand the seriousness of these disorders, the possibility of treatment and recovery, the level of family involvement, the social impact they have. Mental illnesses, if caught early and treated appropriately, are entirely curable. Greater attention and more resources are also needed to prevent them from happening again very serious episodes such as the one that led to the death of Barbara Capovani, the psychiatrist attacked in Pisa by a patientwhich could be avoided by trying to support health care e putting the mental health of citizens among the priorities.

Especially today because, as Fiorillo concludes, we cannot overlook the effect that traumas, large or small, have on the mental health of the general population. We have just emerged from a global pandemic, we have found ourselves in a war, there is a constant risk of earthquakes and other natural disasters; not to mention the effect of poverty, pollution, gone social. We must try to protect the mental health of the population, possibly with global prevention strategies.