An impact on daily reality and an often very difficult emotional and social life. In Italy around 50 thousand adolescents suffer from epilepsy. Of these, almost 20% have depressive symptoms. In adolescents, the presence of a chronic disease such as epilepsy has an enormous impact on life and conditions one of the most delicate phases in the transition from childhood to adulthood. This is what he reported the Dire Agency on the occasion of the recent 44th National Congress of the Italian League Against Epilepsy (LICE), this year dedicated to the theme of Transition, that is, the planned transition from a system of care centered on the pediatric age to one oriented towards adults.
"Epilepsies - he explained Laura Tassi, president of LICE - are pathologies that in the majority of cases begin in childhood or adolescence. When it affects adolescents, it impacts an extremely delicate phase of personal growth, bringing great change to an age group projected towards a future seen as limitless. Having to follow constant pharmacological therapy, respect timetables and not be able to access all the activities that peers can refer to, can also have significant consequences. Teenagers struggle to accept that they have a chronic illness".
Epilepsy is a chronic pathology characterized not only by recurrent seizures that can change over time, but also, in the most serious and drug-resistant cases, by behavioral alterations, scholastic and social difficulties. According to the main scientific evidence, in fact, children with epilepsy more frequently present mood or behavioral disorders than the general population. They may have learning disabilities, difficulties in studying and finding work, but also difficulties relating to autonomy, body image, peer group, self-esteem and identity.
Many adolescents and young adults with conditions that limit functional abilities and compromise emotional and social life experience transitional difficulties when transitioning from pediatric to adult care. The pathology can have serious effects on the development of adolescents, who face important social problems in adult life. The need for continuity of care during the transition from pediatrics to adult services is particularly important for young people going through the physical and mental transformation from adolescence to adulthood. Good management of this transition period is essential to develop and maintain the self-esteem and confidence of the adolescent with epilepsy. The need therefore emerges to envisage a possible model of transition of care from developmental age to adulthood, a model that takes into account the number and complexity of the problems connected to adolescence.
"The first step - added Laura Tassi - is to identify the professionals capable of taking care of these very particular patients. Subsequently we must obtain the personal involvement of the children. Finally, close communication must be created between pediatric specialists and of adulthood".
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On the occasion of World Refugee Day, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the National Institute for the promotion of the health of migrant populations and the fight against diseases of poverty (INMP) signed a memorandum of understanding For strengthen the health protection of minors, women and families with a migratory background.
The agreement between Unicef and INMP aims to:
Refugee and migrant children and adolescents and their families are often at increased health risks and face a variety of barriers to accessing quality healthcare. Many also experience severe emotional difficulties due to the trauma of travel and, many times, abuse and exploitation, including sexual and gender-based violence. The global COVID-19 pandemic has also further exacerbated these challenges.
It is necessary "ensure that their right to health is guaranteed - said Anna Riatti, UNICEF coordinator - also giving them access to quality information and services to face their journey in the safest way possible. The question becomes even more relevant if we consider the effects that the pandemic has on mental health and on the risk of gender violence".
The agreement therefore has as its objective "fair access to health by people highly at risk of social exclusion, with possible serious consequences on their health but also with a negative impact on the entire society - as explained by the INMP general director, Concetta Mirisola - When it comes to young people, in particular, the consequences are perpetuated over time, with incalculable economic but also, and above all, social costs., and this is not acceptable."
Di Liegro Foundation: we support and give dignity to people exposed to loneliness and abandonment.
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Research is underway on the mental health of minors in the time of Covid-19 promoted by theGuarantor authority for children and adolescents in collaboration with the Higher Institute of Health and the Ministry of Education. It's about the first scientific initiative on a national scale lasting three years with three intermediate steps which aims to offer an exhaustive and representative picture of the situation.
A sample epidemiological study is planned which will involve up to 7,500 minors divided into three age groups: 6-10, 11-13 and 14-18 years. An adequate representation of rural and urban schools in Lombardy, Emilia Romagna, Tuscany, Campania and Sicily will be guaranteed. The scientific committee of the project took office this morning. The Ministry of Education is also involved in the control room.
The will be collected good practices tested for raising awareness among parents and the population as well as strategies for promoting mental health in schools. The final report will include the recommendations of the Guarantor Authority to the Government and other institutions to provide a response to a problem that presents worrying characteristics.
“They have arrived numerous warning signs regarding cases of discomfort, self-harm, unhealthy eating disorders, alcohol or drug addictions among minors, often coming from some of the main Italian child neuropsychiatry departments, which require in-depth analysis. This project aims to understand in a scientific way how widespread and profound the phenomenon is and to understand in general what can be done to deal with it effectively" observes the Authority for Children and Adolescents Carla Garlatti.
The Authority promotes the implementation of New York Convention and other international instruments regarding the promotion and protection of the rights of children and adolescents, the full application of the European and national legislation in force regarding the promotion of the protection of children and adolescents, as well as the rights of minors to be welcomed and educated as a priority in their own family and, if necessary, in another supportive or substitute family environment. It is a monocratic body, endowed with autonomous powers of organization and administrative independence and without constraints of hierarchical subordination.
From the website of the Authority for Children and Adolescents
"Every year there are approximately 650,000 emergency room visits for psychiatric reasons. It is clear that it would be impossible to imagine an equivalent number of people to be subjected to strict supervision for possible violent behaviour, but we certainly have to ask ourselves about the connections that may exist between this first health intervention unit and the paths activated subsequently". As reported by the Dire Agency, he is the one who supports him Fabrizio Starace, president of the Italian Society of Psychiatric Epidemiology (Siep), who spoke on Radio24 in recent days to reflect on the condition of mental health in Italy. A reflection that is inspired by the triple murder that occurred in Ardea last Sunday, in which two children and an elderly man were victims of gunshots fired by a 34-year-old with mental problems.
"The territorial inequalities in our country are very marked and even intolerable - added Starace - especially when we consider that psychiatric assistance is not like a surgical operation which a person can benefit from by moving from one region to another and going to a center of excellence. It is assistance that is based in the reference community, aimed at reintegration and re-inclusion".
The problem is "a misunderstood perception of psychiatry which - President Siep further explained - continues to be considered in terms of performance, i.e. of outpatient visits, elicitation of symptoms and possible administration of a psychotropic drug. But this is not the community mental health foreseen by the law, the only useful tool to accompany and support people in difficulty but also to prevent extreme conditions and behavioral exacerbations". Suffice it to say that "even after compulsory health treatment (TSO) there is no continuity of care - added Starace - only the 30% of people who receive a TSO is seen in the 14 days following discharge from hospital. Probably due to problems of equipment and organization in the various territories".
A black and white photograph of Italian mental health taken by Starace. But that could be colored with the help of the Recovery Fund. "If we jumped forward 6-7 years and we were already in the conditions foreseen by the National recovery and resilience plan, with community homes and centers where groups of general practitioners alternate with groups of continuity of care doctors, having the possibility of intercepting the uncomfortable conditions themselves and giving continuity to the treatment - he stated - then evidently the facts of Ardea would have taken on other characteristics".
What tools do you need to put in place? "Those envisaged by the law, even before the Pnrr - added Starace - those which provide for Mental Health Centers spread throughout the territory, open 24 hours a day so as to be able to intercept these forms of distress at any time, with multidisciplinary teams projected towards the community, towards helping families. There is a systemic action to be implemented: we need to be present, proactive, leave clinics and hospitals, go to families' homes, encounter suffering and difficulties, thus avoiding extreme forms from manifesting".
In mental health"we don't need sophisticated technologies but we need human technology, competent and motivated people to carry out this work. One recovers from mental disorder - concludes President Siep - provided that action is taken early and appropriately, according to the treatment paths defined by the Ministry and with continuity over time".
The news on the Dire Agency website
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Finally free, finally normality. Yes, but how are we? And the question that arises in the return to sociality in recent weeks. At the moment there are 12 regions in the white zone, plus the autonomous province of Trento: in practice, over 40 million Italians, around two out of three citizens, live with anti-Covid restrictions reduced to a minimum. Yet it is not a given that everything is sunshine and roses.
As the psychiatrist explained to the Dire Agency Carlo Valitutti, we can see "a greater discomfort on the part of people compared to what happened after the first lockdown. Paradoxically, if on the one hand it is true that there is a desire for freedom, on the other hand many do not allow themselves to go so calmly into "the idea of starting to go to gyms or swimming pools again, for example. This is what you actually feel beyond what you might think when you see bars and restaurants open."
In short, more than one person is experiencing the much-desired return to life with some discomfort. According to Valitutti, a disconnect has been created between the need to protect health and the need to resume economic and work activities which has increased month after month, creating "confusion and a loss of critical sense in people".
In short, as longed for as they may be, the acceleration in the pace of vaccinations and the decline in infections (and deaths) have translated into a gap between the speed of external time and the need for slowness of internal time. "The speed of reopenings associated with a desire to return to normality has paradoxically created more confusion - added Valitutti - There are people who, instead of being happy with the restart, have now started to have doubts that perhaps they should have had before, in the midst of the pandemic According to a dynamic that must have occurred in the daily lives of many of us, people accustomed to using reason "have indulged in catastrophic assessments", encountering and posing obstacles to their normality.
But there is a solution, according to the psychiatrist: the exercise of one's critical sense. "It helps us think that we are living a
a necessary moment to safeguard ourselves and also necessary for the future - states Valitutti - Just as the idea that we are not omnipotent, that we cannot solve everything in a certain way but that we must respect ourselves and what surrounds us will be useful. The virus has pushed us back to our limit."
According to Istat's 2020 report on fair and sustainable well-being, mental well-being worsens among the elderly and among residents in Lombardy, Piedmont and Campania. The BES provides an annual analysis of the progress and critical issues of the dimensions of well-being in Italy. In the year of the pandemic, the analysis of the mental health index takes on particular importance.
The Institute of Statistics reports that the general change for the total population compared to 2019 is not significant, perhaps because in the early stages of the epidemic the evaluation of one's health conditions was influenced by the relativization of one's own psycho-physical state in comparison to that of other people in worse situations and by the important role played by the family context which made it possible to maintain an atmosphere of serenity in most families.
However, different trends emerge in subgroups of the population. The situation of people aged 75 and over worsens both among men and women; among men of this age it drops by 1 point (which becomes -2 points for residents in the North), among women the drop is also observed among those aged 65-74 (-1.7).
The conditions of greater isolation experienced during 2020 especially affected the mental health of single people in the 55-64 age group, even here especially in the North. Even among young women aged 20-24, however, the score dropped by more than 2 points compared to the previous year.
The mental health index worsens in Lombardy, Piedmont and Campania which present the lowest values together with Molise. Gender gaps are widening, with more unfavorable conditions for women (66 versus 71.1). Mental well-being conditions deteriorate with increasing age, with a difference of approximately 10 points between the scores of the youngest and oldest.
The positive evolution of life expectancy stops. The health chapter notes in particular that the positive evolution of life expectancy at birth between 2010 and 2019, despite evident geographical and gender inequalities, was severely slowed down by Covid-19 which canceled out, completely in the North and partially in other areas of the country, the expected gains in years of life accrued over the decade.
The Mental Health Index is a measure of psychological distress (psychological distress) obtained from the summary of the scores obtained by each interviewee over the age of 14 on the questions referring to the four main dimensions of mental health (anxiety, depression, loss of behavioral or emotional control and psychological well-being). The index varies between 0 and 100, with better psychological well-being conditions as the value of the index increases.
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If you are at least 18 years old and are the child of parents who live or have lived the experience of mental suffering, we would like to know and give voice to your experience.
By answering a completely anonymous questionnaire, you will be able to help us continue the project Share4Carers and to make this topic better known. Your answers, together with those of other sons and daughters from other European countries, will help us understand the situation in Europe and will be the starting point for producing recommendations for policymaker, institutions, professionals and others stakeholders.
If you would like to participate, click on this link:
and please leave your email address. In the next few weeks you will receive the questionnaire in your email inbox. To ensure you receive it, also check your Spam/Junk Email folder.
COMIP (Association for the Social Promotion of Children of Mentally Ill Parents) and the Don Luigi Di Liegro Foundation, together with partners from other European countries of Turkey, Belgium and Greece, are carrying out Share4Carers, an Erasmus+ Project for share good practices for supporting children of parents with mental health problems in Europe.
The ambition of the Share4Carers project is to produce recommendations that will contribute to promote resilience and positive outcomes in children of parents with mental disorders and in their families, accelerating the adoption of psychoeducation practices across Europe by involving patient and family organisations, professionals and caregiver in the development of good practices themselves.
Thank you for helping us raise awareness of the "Forgotten Children" and to do advocacy for prevention and support!
Find out more about the project
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These are dramatic numbers that emerged last week during the XXII national congress of the Italian Society of NeuroPsychoPharmacology. In fact, it has been estimated that up to one million new cases of mental distress could emerge in the coming months due to the pandemic.
A wave that affects both those who have had direct experience with COVID-19 and those experiencing the consequences of the measures to contain the infection. The incidence of depressive symptoms in those who have come into contact with the virus shows a higher probability of up to 32% (10% for those who have suffered bereavement due to the pandemic), so much so that it is estimated that up to 800 thousand new cases of depression.
To these could be added 150 thousand new cases of depression caused by unemployment. In fact, the risk doubles in those with an income of less than 15 thousand euros per year and triples in those who are unemployed.
The discomfort manifests itself with anxiety or insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder (for those who have been infected) and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The categories most at risk are women (more predisposed to depression and more affected by the social and work-related repercussions), young people (who have seen their social life change and are suffering from the effects of the crisis on employment) and the elderly (more fragile in the face of contagions and mental disorders).
This is why we are now talking about syndemic, that is, the presence and health consequences of an interaction between disease and social, environmental or economic factors. In the context of COVID-19, conditions of health, emotional and social fragility do not add up, but exponentially multiply their negative consequences on the psychophysical well-being of the population.
Even during the lockdown and the measures to contain the virus, the Di Liegro Foundation has always kept the SOSS-Orientation and Social Support Service. By calling 06 6792669 or writing to supportsociale@fondazionediliegro.it, people who experience mental distress and their family members can obtain listening and information on access to mental health services and resources present in the Rome area.
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Carrying out Civil Service at the Di Liegro Foundation is an opportunity to commit to active citizenship, an opportunity to increase one's wealth of knowledge, which can be used throughout one's working life, while ensuring financial recognition at the same time.
We are looking for young people who love life communication and the relation, whatever they want team up for a concrete project, who are interested inempathy and to theI listen, particularly in the area of psychosocial well-being.
If you have just graduated, if you don't work and you want to dedicate part of your time to your community, the Civil Service at the Di Liegro Foundation offers you a significant educational and training experience.
The Civil Service volunteers at the Di Liegro Foundation will contribute toorganization, to the support and to communication from the training activities aimed at citizens, volunteers and family members, of Telephone listening and orientation service, and to those of the Self-help groups to support families of people with mental and mental health problems socialization and art therapy workshops.
The training of volunteers is oriented in particular to the consideration of the "person with discomfort", as "a person who, at a certain stage of his life, is suffering from a mental problem."
Commitment, values and future are the cornerstones of the Universal Civil Service. Principles which inspire the activities and projects of the Di Liegro Foundation. Our goal is to train aware citizens of their role within the local community, who are bearers of a vision of society based on attention to rights and needs of the most fragile people in the social fabric.
The project of the Di Liegro Foundation is “From loneliness to inclusion” and is part of the ASL RM2 program “We look after the most fragile” (program code PMCSU0011220010007GXXX). Download the program poster.
FROM SOLITUDE TO INCLUSION
PROJECT CODE: PTXSU0011220010025GXXX
The general objective of the project is to promote and implement the activation of resources within the social network of people with mental health problems and their families.
Specific objectives:
THE COLOR OF THE MOON: POSSIBLE CIVILLY INCLUSIVE VISIONS
PROJECT CODE: PTCSU0011220010026GXXX
The general objective of the project is to focus on the rights and well-being of the person experiencing social exclusion and marginalization due to mental health problems. In particular:
WELCOME TO INTEGRATE
PROJECT CODE: PTXSU0011220010024GXXX
The project has the general objective, on the one hand, of contributing to the civic, social, cultural and professional training of young people who will carry out the civil service, and on the other of strengthening the capacity to welcome users, their families and the subjects who they take care of interests, providing personalized answers oriented towards multiple areas.
The project's target audience will be adults in a state of mental distress, with particular attention to patients with severe psychosis residing in the municipalities involved.
WELCOME TO ORIENT AND ORIENTATE TO HEALTH
PROJECT CODE: PTCSU0025320010030GXXX
The general objective of the project is to promote food education and healthy lifestyles in opportunistic contexts, through the acceptance and implementation of communication strategies and the development of functional skills for behavioral change, with reference to a multi-stakeholder approach and multisectoral.
Specific objectives:
THE CULTURE OF LEGALITY
PROJECT CODE: PTCSU0008720010029GXXX
The aim of the project is to promote the culture of legality, aimed at developing civic sense in young people, intended as a basis for affirming an idea of a supportive and cohesive community, which recognizes itself in the rules it has established and which respects them.
The reference target is young people from Ostia (Italians and immigrants) aged between 15 and 29;
The project therefore intends, with activities open to young people, who can transform themselves from users to protagonists of the same, to develop occasions and opportunities for aggregation that facilitate discussion, dialogue and develop the sense of belonging to a community and the active exercise of participatory democracy and assumption of responsibility.
Through the project we want to develop the themes dearest to the Civil Service:
NEW RECEPTION IN SERVICES FOR MINORS
PROJECT CODE: PTXSU0011220010027GXXX
The general objective of the project is to protect the rights of minors to health, improving the quality and accessibility of local services and their usability, to truly pursue the rights of equality, non-discrimination and equal opportunities in developmental age.
The specific objectives to be pursued will be:
BEYOND THE PRISON WALL 5
PROJECT CODE: PTXSU0011220010028GXXX
The direct beneficiaries of the project are all the inmates of the 4 Rebibbia institutions with psychiatric diagnoses or mental insufficiency. These are people who are usually not included in criminal circles, who commit crimes considered "bagatellar", epiphenomenon of a long history of social deprivation, with poor or ineffective use of local services, sometimes not adequately defended in court. Diagnoses can range from psychosis to personality disorders, posing difficulties in social reintegration that are particularly difficult to deal with.
GENERAL OBJECTIVES RELATED TO THE SERVICE
GENERAL OBJECTIVES RELATING TO YOUNG PEOPLE IN CIVIL SERVICE
Young people between 18 and 29 years of age at the time of submitting the application, not employed and not included in education and training courses, can participate in the selections.
Furthermore, they must be registered with the Youth Employment Initiative program (Youth Guarantee) and have signed the Service Agreement with the relevant Employment Center and/or Service. To register for the Youth Guarantee, go to www.garanziagiovani.gov.it.
Aspiring volunteer operators must submit the application for participation exclusively through the Online Application (DOL) platform which can be reached via PC, tablet and smartphone at the address https://domandaonline.serviziocivile.it.
The deadline for submitting applications has been extended to 2pm on 17 February 2021.
To access the application compilation and submission services on the DOL platform, the candidate must be recognized by the system.
1 - Italian citizens residing in Italy or abroad can access it exclusively with SPID, the Public Digital Identity System. On the website of the Agency for Digital Italy www.agid.gov.it/it/piattaforme/spid all the information is available on what SPID is, what services it offers and how to request it. For the Question Online Civil Service requires SPID security level 2 credentials.
2 - Citizens of countries belonging to the European Union and foreigners regularly residing in Italy, if they are not available to acquire the SPID, will be able to access the services of the DOL platform through specific credentials to be requested from the Department, according to a procedure available on the home page of the platform itself.
To find out more about the Universal Civil Service: https://www.serviziocivile.gov.it/
Download the Notice for the selection of 46,891 volunteer operators to be employed in projects relating to universal civil service intervention programs to be carried out in Italy, abroad and in the territories of the regions affected by the National Operational Program - Youth Employment Initiative (PON-IOG "Youth Guarantee" - Measurement 6)
>>> For information call 06.6792669 or write to segreteria@fondazionediliegro.it
