Just dig into grandpa’s drawer, parents’ medicine cabinet or do a quick Google search. There are also those who get a little more uncomfortable and go to the pharmacist, with or without a prescription. The consumption of psychotropic drugs has increased among young people: finding them is simple and justifying their improper use even more so. But throwing yourself into the arms of chemistry is almost never the solution. This was underlined by Giuseppe Maina, full professor of psychiatry at the University of Turin and director of the complex psychiatry unit of the San Luigi Gonzaga hospital in Orbassano. A specialist in depressive disorders, he recognizes why in recent years not only has the “prescription by psychopharmaceutical specialists” increased, but also abuse outside the medical indications. Thanks, of course, to the pandemic.
“The first thing that pushes young people to use psychotropic drugs is the false belief that they resolve conflicts, but it is wrong: they are used to cure ailments, existential problems do not disappear with drugs». The second point, adds the expert, «is that with psychopharmaceuticals now looking for a cheap drugthere is a tendency to hire them for the high. Then, but in the minority, sometimes young people take them to try to improve academic or sports performance: they are looking for stimulants, but it is an improper and wrong consumption». Ease of finding them doesn’t help. «It is possible – continues Maina – that young people have these medicines because perhaps they find them at home. In the more refined cases, I’m afraid someone you can find them for sale on the internet. Pharmacists shouldn’t give them without a prescription and they are quite attentive, but who knows.’
The risks of taking drugs outside the medical context are «side effects on the liver or kidneys – underlines Maina -. Some drugs can greatly reduce the ability to react and have quick reflexes, so you risk driving a car, for example ». In this alarming picture, social networks play a central and multiplier role. “For many, they are the main source of information and communication,” Maina points out, but she also recognizes the positive aspect: they can help clear taboos and raise awareness in young people that something can be done about their ailments. «It’s good that we talk about depression, like any other ailment. But we must hope that correct information passes and the school could be the right place to talk about it ».