"There are few places in a life, perhaps even one, where something happens; after that there are all the other places." (Alice Munro)
The thought put to flight. Or out of order. The thought returned. The thought disturbed by something unspeakable. Thought recreated. Compact. Adult. This day center is the womb of thoughts. But also of the commitment of thoughts. The activities. The comparisons. The talks. We allow ourselves to be impatient to grow, to concentrate, to meet. And when this happens, the meeting shows us not to fear chaos, but to dance with chaos. Because you can breathe the tumult of busy thoughts in the air. The day center redefines our priorities. And we learn, through the commitment of thoughts, to orient the life force that is within us. To release that energy that is freed with the other, here and now.
Silvia Bove
*on the cover the painting "How I see myself through you" by the author herself.
This is Andrea's story, and how a look changes. We called him “Ugly Andrew”.
There were five of Andrea, among the teenagers of the complex of newly built buildings, where our families had gone to live, converging from many neighborhoods of the capital. There was Andrea the dark-haired, Andrea the blond, Andrea the red-haired (this is what we Romans call those with red hair), Andrea the handsome. And then, of course, ugly Andrea. The nicknames had been given by the eldest of the boys who found themselves in a group in the square, a good boy, after all, but with the exuberance of a bully. Even though bullying, although many of us had already experienced it, was a term and an awareness far from being understood and rejected, in those early 80s.
We therefore called him ugly Andrea. For convenience, let's say so. In order to distinguish the Andreas, when we talked or formed teams to play football in the middle of the street. But if we didn't yet know what bullying was, the derogatory connotation in that "Ugly Andrew" label was clear.
On the other hand, he was "a strange guy": he had tics, sometimes he seemed to talk to himself, other times he tended to throw outbursts of anger when he thought he had suffered a foul in the game, and for some of us the taste was precisely that to provoke him and see his reaction. His family was also “strange”, from our point of view as teenagers spoiled by the attention of our parents and the well-being they had given us. But we were able to see the dignity of Andrea's mother and father and we felt a little of the fatigue of two parents with disabilities who traveled by public transport to go to work and do the shopping (we who came from families who owned two cars). Among my memories of adolescence is their indelible limp, their limping step, when they return home, slowly dragging themselves across the square onto which our apartments overlooked, like a theater of asphalt and concrete.
And it was to gain acceptance from all of us teenagers in the square that, at the end of eighth grade, Andrea organized a football challenge: us against his classmates. Except that they were coming from the opposite side of the consular road around which our neighborhood was growing. They came from the social housing sector, built many years earlier near the river, "deported" to the middle of nowhere, as happened to many in Italy. Thus, in this Pasolini context, in which Pasolini had actually lived for some time, the game that should never have been played was played, a game that ended immediately after it began and which marked Andrea's relationship with our group.
We were faced with kids who had repeated it once or twice in eighth grade, with the obvious desire to establish who was in charge among the teenagers in the neighborhood. But it wouldn't be who scored the most goals who decided it. I think the brawl lasted longer than the match, given that in the second action I knocked out a guy called "the Cap" with a punch. Unfortunately for the "Cap", I was wearing goalkeeper gloves, whose designs and stitching were printed precisely on his cheekbone. I don't remember much of what happened next, apart from the awareness of having the Cap above me, who in the meantime had knocked me to the ground, and about twenty guys who were fighting each other at random.
What I do remember, however, are the patrols of boys on motorbikes who, in the following days, appeared in the square keeping their chains clearly visible. The Cap was driving them, evidently looking for revenge, and who, after a couple of months in which none of us showed up on the road, got bored and disappeared. And we returned to group life, made up of the first cigarettes, the music of Vasco Rossi and always having a ball at our feet.
Andrea fared worse. He found himself marginalized by us, who thought we had ended up in a trap to make up for how we treated him, but also by his schoolmates, who had not been able to redeem the affront suffered by the "Cap". He was so marginalized by us that we didn't speak to him, in fact we didn't say hello at all, and we excluded him from the only activity that had brought us together: kicking a ball around.
For the following years, while life had disbanded our group and I was one of the few left to live in the neighborhood, at most I gave him a "hello". But more often, when I saw him from afar, I changed direction. I pretended nothing happened, but he knew it: he was "a strange guy", not stupid, as he told me about twenty years ago. And then he was used to being ignored and rejected from an early age. Probably before he became “Ugly Andrew” for us in the square.
Well, I saw Andrea's mental distress. I saw him in some of his manifestations and perhaps I was even a small part of it, contributing to his marginalization, making him pay for his non-conformity, treating him with the ferocity and insensitivity of which one is capable in adolescence.
But when, working for the Di Liegro Foundation, I saw the photos taken by Andrea, whose surname I remembered (even though I had almost never called him by his first and last name), I saw the past, adolescence and life, but with a different and new perspective. The shots taken by Andrea during the Foundation's photography workshops look at the city in a geometric way, drawing interactions between means of transport and the urban context, in which people are blurred, representing an almost negligible part of the landscape, to the point of disappearing.
That the author of those photos was really the Andrea I knew, and not a homonym, I understood during a Foundation meeting on Zoom, during the lockdown. I recognized Andrea's voice and face. In the expressions, in the gaze and in the desire - almost obsessive - for relationships with others, I saw the adolescent Andrea again and recognized the signs of discomfort. That mental discomfort that, before arriving at the Foundation, I ignored and was unable to see in people.
At the summer party that the Di Liegro Foundation organizes every year in June, bringing together users, volunteers and family members, and where the experiences of the art-therapy and socialization workshops held during the year are relived, I met Andrea. He didn't recognize me immediately, because I obviously couldn't be placed in a context other than the neighborhood streets. And this time, I didn't change my path. I went up to him: “Ahò, don't you recognize me?”.
We talked until the party ended, reviewing a few decades of our affairs, our families and our common acquaintances. Andrea still lives there, with his parents, in the apartment that still overlooks the square. A square that is no longer a theater or a football field, but just a parking lot always full of cars.
A volunteer
Photo by Batın Özen from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/kids-playing-soccer-in-the-street-7610880/
Here are some photos from the second meeting of art therapy laboratory organized by the Don Luigi Di Liegro Foundation in collaboration with the Ripetta Art Academy, which took place today in the heart of Villa Borghese.
The teachers of the Academy, accompanied by young students and volunteers from the Foundation, guided the participants on a cultural/educational and at the same time therapeutic journey, based on the union between art and nature.
Through the activity of life drawing, we reproduced and observed the surrounding environment in search of hidden monuments, ancient busts and the historic fountains of the Pincio, without ever losing the amazement that distinguishes those who are able to marvel.
"A good preliminary practice than any other is the practice of wonder. Practicing not knowing and wondering. Looking around and letting go of the concept of tree, road, house, sea and looking with a gaze that ignores what is known. Exercising wonder cures the sick heart of those who have only been able to exercise fear"
Intervention tools for the well-being and mental health of young people.
Sports coaches, youth group leaders, art teachers... in a word Youth Workers!
The need to invest in training It is on recognition of skills of this multitude of people is the basis of the European Erasmus+ project “Youth Workers Promoting Mental Health (YouProMe)” whose results were presented this morning in Rome. At the meeting, promoted by Don Luigi Di Liegro International Foundation onlus and from ASL RM1 leaders of the project spoke among others: Fabrizio Starace – Coordinator of the Mental Health Technical Table of the Ministry of Health, Rodolfo Lena – President of the VII Commission on Health, social policies, socio-health integration, welfare of the Lazio Region, Barbara Funari – Councilor for Social Policies and Health of the Municipality of Rome, Alessandra Aluigi – Councilor for Social Policies, Rome Municipality. The day was also an opportunity for reflect together to the European partners of England, Greece and Romania on new challenges related to the mental health of young people, which our society is facing as never before in this moment of pandemic.
“Those who suffer from forms of mental distress during childhood and adolescence risk experiencing not only poorer mental health in adulthood, but also greater difficulties in relationships and life in general." declares Luigina Di Liegro, General Secretary of the Di Liegro Foundation “For this knowledge intercept signals of discomfort, intervene in a timely, effective manner and inclusive are essential skills for those who work together with young people. Thanks to this project” goes on “we had the opportunity to share and export our good practices for mental health; develop shared interventions and make them available to Youth workers, to ensure the full and harmonious growth of all citizens of tomorrow.”
The Youth Worker is a profile expressly recognized within European youth policies and a precious resource in our country too. A varied galaxy that involves in various capacities a large number of people who, operating along the edge in informal contexts, play a strategic role for the well-being and health of children: from the sport, to that of cultural and artistic activities, recreational, from the activities of socialization and recreational a to social assistance and civil protection. Organizations of Volunteering, associations, businesses and social cooperatives, non-profit organizations which, without counting those who voluntarily make their skills available, have overall 861.919 employees (Istat data 2019).
PROJECT
Started even before the pandemic by Don Luigi Di Liegro International Foundation and the ASL Rome 1 with partners from Great Britain, Romania and Greece, the “YouproMe” project aims to offer Youth Workers shared models and useful operational tools to be able to intervene effectively the well-being and mental health of young people.
Materials and documents, free and downloadable from the site www.youpromeproject.eu, which you can draw on to broaden your skills, orient yourself on the topic and find practical suggestions for activities and interventions in the field.
A strategic project given the dramatic psychological consequencesof Covid on the younger ones, who did not have the opportunity to peacefully experience the fundamental moments of their growth. Data which require immediate interventions and at different levels, in synergy between educational and socio-health institutions.
Compared to the pre-pandemic period, the cases of depression, anxiety among teenagers have more than doubled (Data published by Jama Pediatrics).
A study from the Meyer Children's Hospital in Florence reports that patients with food disorders they increased 4 times compared to previous years (June 2021 data).
The latest observations conducted by the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Rome speak of an increase in 30% attempts to suicide And self-harm among the younger ones.
Finally, data from the Mental Health Department of ASL Roma 1 confirm that the pandemic has led to an average increase in the incidence of mental disorders in adolescence of 30%, with tips of 70% in eating disorders. Most of these are brain disorders emotional-affective regulation, mainly self-harm and suicide attempts, poly-substance abuse resulting in psychotic episodes, unstable eating behaviors, live and online violence; less frequent, but no less worrying, are disorders defined as "internalizing": isolation, sleep-wake rhythm inversion, hikikomori, etc.
THE STORIES
“When I was a schoolboy" tells Philip, 18 years old interviewed within the Project “My friend Daniele and I had great difficulty studying. Both in understanding the explanations of the professors, who also tried their hardest with us, and in learning about the books. Every opportunity was a good one to escape. In the end" continues in his strong Roman accent “To recover they forced us to go to an after-school program. There was a boy there who was a little older than us to help us... I don't even remember his name, but he had a way of speaking that made us want to study. More to me than to Daniele to tell the truth" he concludes laughing “But he never gave up and, in the end, we both got to the diploma.” Francesca, 27 years old, he has a degree in animal breeding and dog education, obtained at the University of Pisa, where thanks to his thesis on "Pet Therapy" he found a way to combine his love for animals with the desire to help people more fragile. But his passions don't end there. “Since I was a girl I have always played volleyball.” tells "For this reason, when they asked me to participate as a coach in the project to start practicing sports in my neighborhood middle school, I accepted with enthusiasm..” An experience interrupted due to the restrictions due to Covid, but which still allowed Francesca to enter into relationships with many boys and girls between 11 and 14 years old. “Playing helped everyone! Both the more competent kids and the less sporty ones, at least in appearance. A few meetings were enough to bring out hidden abilities in each of us.” Goes on "The more experienced gave some advice to the more insecure, who thus gained fluency and ease even off the pitch. Being together and playing did the rest, helping the older ones, including me, to listen and help”.
Don Gabriele he is a young priest of 32 years old, engaged in his mission as assistant parish priest in a parish on the outskirts of Rome. “Every day I meet many boys and girls: in the oratory, in the scout group where I am an assistant, in Church. I feel to all intents and purposes like an informal educator and as such I always need new tools. In the first place for me there is certainly the desire to share experiences and interact with competent people, in order to have more strength and incisiveness in dealing with youth problems.”. He continues talking about his experience “I have seen first-hand the discomfort that the pandemic has brought with it, sometimes bringing out latent problems. At the same time there is a great desire for life and rebirth in the children. Being together, having adults at their side with whom they can enter into positive relationships, has helped them and continues to help them overcome obstacles and barriers (including forced distancing and masks). Their positive potential is there, you just need to give them support and accompaniment. To do it best and grow together with them, there are never enough opportunities.”
Silvia she is 24 years old and has so much energy and desire to do that it is difficult to fit her into a single definition. She is at the same time a volunteer, a scout leader, a young graduate in Clinical Psychology and we could continue for a while! Among the many reasons that led her to be interested in the "Youprome" project, she chose to talk to us about her internship experience with kids who have various mental health problems. “The project in which I am involved involves children between 14 and 18 years old in informal and socio-rehabilitative activities. Through hippotherapy, for example, we make them live a new experience: for once they are the ones who take care of and pay attention to someone other than themselves. In the care of the horse, in the foster relationship they are committed, they have fun, they feel lighter.” Here I understood how necessary it is to combine the theory studied in books with practice, contact, relationships. With the Youprome project" explains “I have found new resources for my work: tools designed and tested for children who suffer from mental distress in this age group to draw on for new and stimulating activities for everyone.”
Event registration
On the occasion of the conference Bridge the gap. Intervention tools for the well-being and mental health of young people we spoke to some Youth Workers, who told us their story.
Don Gabriele is a young priest of 32 years old, engaged in his mission as assistant parish priest in a parish on the outskirts of Rome.
“Ogni giorno incontro tanti ragazzi e ragazze: in oratorio, nel gruppo scout di cui sono assistente, in Chiesa. Mi sento a tutti gli effetti un educatore informale e come tale ho sempre bisogno di nuovi strumenti. Al primo posto per me c’è sicuramente il desiderio di condividere le esperienze e confrontarmi con persone competenti, per poter avere più forza e incisività nell’affrontare le problematiche giovanili”. Prosegue parlando della sua esperienza: “Ho toccato con mano il disagio che la pandemia ha portato con sé, facendo emergere a volte problemi latenti. Allo stesso tempo c’è nei ragazzi un grande desiderio di vita e di rinascita.
Lo stare insieme, avere al fianco adulti con cui entrare in relazioni positive, li ha aiutati e li aiuta a superare gli ostacoli e le barriere (compresi il distanziamento forzato e le mascherine). Il loro potenziale positivo è lì, basta solo dargli sostegno e accompagnamento. Per farlo al meglio e crescere insieme a loro, le occasioni non sono mai abbastanza.”
Silvia ha 24 anni e così tante energie e voglia di fare che è difficile inquadrarla in un’unica
definizione.
She is at the same time a volunteer, a scout leader, a young graduate in Clinical Psychology and we could continue for a while! Among the many reasons that led her to become interested in the project YouProMe sceglie di parlarci della sua esperienza di tirocinio con ragazzi che hanno diversi disagi psichici.
“Il progetto nel quale sono impegnata coinvolge ragazzi tra i 14 e i 18 anni in attività informali e socio-riabilitative. Attraverso l’ippo-terapia, ad esempio, gli facciamo vivere un’esperienza nuova: per una volta sono loro in prima persona a prendersi cura e a prestare attenzione a un altro da sé. Nella cura del cavallo, nella relazione di affidamento si impegnano, si divertono, si sentono più leggeri. Qui ho capito quanto sia necessario affiancare la teoria studiata sui libri, con la pratica, il contatto, la relazione. Con il progetto YouProMe - spiega - ho trovato nuove risorse per il mio lavoro: strumenti pensati e sperimentati per ragazzi che in questa fascia di età soffrono di disagio mentale a cui attingere per attività nuove e stimolanti per tutti”.
Francesca, 27 years old, has a degree in animal breeding and dog education from the University of Pisa.
Qui, grazie alla tesi sulla “Pet Theraphy” ha trovato il modo per unire il suo amore per gli animali al desiderio di aiutare le persone più fragili. Ma le sue passioni non finiscono qui. “Fin da ragazza ho sempre giocato a pallavolo - Per questo, quando mi hanno proposto di partecipare come allenatrice al progetto di avvio alla pratica sportiva nella scuola media del mio quartiere ho accettato con entusiasmo".
Un’esperienza interrotta a causa delle restrizioni dovute al Covid, ma che ha permesso comunque a Francesca di entrare in relazione con molti ragazzi e ragazze tra gli 11 e i 14 anni. “Giocare ha aiutato tutti! Sia i ragazzi più competenti, che quelli meno sportivi, almeno in apparenza. Sono bastati pochi incontri per tirare fuori da ciascuno capacità nascoste.” Prosegue “I più esperti hanno dato qualche dritta ai più insicuri, che hanno conquistato così scioltezza e disinvoltura anche fuori dal campo. Lo stare insieme e il gioco hanno fatto il resto, aiutando i più grandi, me compresa, nell’ascolto e nell’aiuto”.
Filippo, 18 years old, and the meeting with a Youth Worker
“Quando andavo a scuola - racconta Filippo, 18 anni intervistato nell’ambito del Progetto YouProme - io e il mio amico Daniele avevamo una grandissima difficoltà nello studio. Sia nel comprendere le spiegazioni dei professori, che pure con noi ce la mettevano tutta, sia nel metterci sui libri. Ogni occasione era buona per scappare. Alla fine - prosegue nel suo marcato accento romano - per recuperare ci hanno costretto a un dopo-scuola. Lì c’era un ragazzo poco più grande di noi per aiutarci… Non mi ricordo neanche come si chiamava, ma aveva un modo di parlare che faceva venire voglia di studiare. Più a me che a Daniele, a dir la verità - conclude ridendo - Lui però non si è mai arreso e, alla fine, siamo arrivati entrambi al Diploma”.
Photo by Anete Lusina.
Luca has a diploma as an IT expert in his pocket and a great desire to do his part. He carries out the Universal Civil Service in the Don Luigi Di Liegro International Foundation onlus in his city: Rome.
“After graduation - he says calmly and always with a smile on his face - I was never left idle. I have always looked for a job, even at the cost of doing small jobs, which however did not give me any satisfaction or future prospects. Thanks to the suggestion of a childhood friend, I decided to find out about the experience of the Civil Service. The project that involved and impressed me the most was that of the Di Liegro Foundation".
A non-random choice, which confirms that it was the correct one. “The balance of these first months of Civil Service? Absolutely more than positive - adds Luca with enthusiasm - I am having the opportunity to meet people with very different life paths from mine, to grow both on a personal and professional level, experimenting with completely new areas compared to the studies I have undertaken. Above all - he tells us proudly - I feel I can be useful and help people who experience a difficult situation. I'm not afraid of commitment and I don't hold back. And all of this makes me feel good!”
The last time the Brigands were pinched, the group formed by the participants of the music and therapy workshop, had performed on the stage of the Academic Hall of the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, it was Valentine's Day 2020. "A few days before, for all of us, the world changed", recalled the presenter of the evening, the journalist Gabriella Facondo.
Now, 22 months later, The Music That Changes Everything returns.
The concert therefore represented the way to re-tie that thread that has never been broken, because the Di Liegro Foundation, as well as the Santa Cecilia Conservatory, it never stopped. - added Gabriella Facondo - The protagonist is music, which almost always arrives before and further than the words. And, when it crosses us, it does so without ever leaving us identical to ourselves."
The evening at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory becomes an opportunity to remember that road that Father Luigi Di Liegro he courageously chose to walk.
In the Convert, Councilor of the Capitoline assembly, in reading the thanks of the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri, and of the Capitoline Administration, recalled how the pandemic has "put us all to the test, and unfortunately continues to do so, making us more distant and alone and causing and fueling fragility". But it was thanks to all those, like the Di Liegro Foundation, who instead of stopping, guaranteed listening, places of welcome and support for families and vulnerable people, "that our community managed to resist" a pandemic that has tried to bend it. "It will be the task of the institutions not only to recognize your precious work but to commit to creating new tools to never leave anyone behind. Hard work awaits us - writes Mayor Gualtieri - which I am sure will not scare us: that of making Rome a city more inclusive and fair".
"Nurturing the sense of belonging to a community, strengthening ties, ensuring that no one is left behind have always been the tasks of the Di Liegro Foundation", stated the president father Sandro Barlone, during the evening. "The Briganti pizzicati concert represents an important stage, a moment in which we recognize the work done by many: families, operators and volunteers. In which we look with satisfaction - added the president of the Di Liegro Foundation - people who today regain moments of a social life from which, due to circumstances beyond their control, they have been marginalized. Now through music, a language that goes beyond, brings people together and brings them together. Like any form of communication - concluded Barlone - it expresses forms of closeness that otherwise we will not be able to live."
The theater and art workshops were the protagonists of the recent meeting dedicated to the Summer Festival, the closing event of the 2020-2021 activities of the Di Liegro Foundation.
They have not been easy months, but despite the pandemic we managed to carry out the usual volunteering training course "Volunteers and families online for mental health" and to carry out the art-therapy and socialization workshops that have always characterized the action of the Foundation.
On the occasion of the greetings, it was possible to visit the art exhibition of the artistic-creative laboratory created in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts of Rome.
"IN NATURE I LISTEN" - THE VIDEO OF THE ARTISTIC-CREATIVE WORKSHOP
The video “Everything will be fine” was then screened, the show from our theater workshop. For once, thanks to the distancing rules, our users and volunteers performed in front of a camera, instead of live. Emotions and fun are still guaranteed, thanks to everyone's dedication in preparing the show. And to the help and inspiration of a truly special friend: the actor Giulio Scarpati, former actor in the TV series dedicated to Don Luigi Di Liegro, The man of charity.
In the painting workshop, Gino uses colors confidently and without saving, almost exaggeratedly. Also sprinkling his face, hands and arms, which he uses as an extension of the sheet of paper.
Even his debut in the theater laboratory leaves us amazed. The choice of songs to perform during the rehearsals reflects the depth of his inner world: he interacts with the other participants and volunteers, as if they had always been artistic colleagues, and immediately establishes a particular relationship of trust with the director.
Gino is 38 years old.Two years ago, the operators of the Mental Health Centre, who follow him in his therapeutic-rehabilitative journey, advised him to attend the activities organized by the Di Liegro Foundation.
As mentioned, Gino immediately demonstrates a natural predisposition in using artistic language. Attentive, participate assiduously in everything that happens. His enthusiasm is uncontainable, contagious, so much so that it has become a catalyst for the group.
Gino is an affectionate person and his emotions are explosive: the kisses and hugs he gives when we meet make what he feels physical and tangible.
But the enthusiasm in being together has, on the flip side, a strong sense of loneliness. And when G. finds himself at home alone, bad mood and bad thoughts risk taking over.
The pandemic
The Di Liegro Foundation is a place of relationships and exchange for all the people who frequent it. Weekly meetings for laboratories, the training courses oi self-help groups they are fixed appointments; and for some participants the Foundation has become a point of reference, one of the few together with the health service and the family.
The suspension of in-person activities, with the closure of the headquarters during the pandemic for COVID-19, represented an important change for everyone: the lack of a meeting place was strong.
For some, more than others, the interruption of meetings and the impossibility of meeting in person and greeting each other with a kiss and a hug were an unexpected event, which shook a fragile balance.
This is exactly what happened to Gino.
Gino, more than his other course colleagues, was affected by the lockdown and the lack of those moments, developing acute manifestations of intolerance and depressive crises during the pandemic. And if in the first days the telephone contact allowed him to contain his discomfort to some extent, as the quarantine and isolation continued it was no longer sufficient.
Gino. he could no longer bear his anguish and called the Foundation workers saying that he was very ill and that he feared he wouldn't be able to make it. From now on. he was first admitted to an emergency service and then to a residential facility.
Listening and supporting citizens
During the quarantine period, the Foundation's main objective was to remain in contact with its community of users, volunteers and families and to guarantee a listening and support service to citizens through the SOSS Mental Health Orientation and Social Support Service.
Since the first days of the pandemic we have established telephone appointments to monitor the effects that the emergency situation and imposed isolation was having on the most fragile people. Loneliness and the suspension of one routine, as well as more frequent attendance of mental health services, has been destabilizing for users and family members in particular.
The use of digital devices has been of great help to us in maintaining contact with participants, family members and volunteers, since we almost immediately moved the appointments of our activities onto digital platforms and most people, having a smartphone or a PC, participated in the appointments. When this was not possible, we maintained "analog" contact through telephone calls.
The online meetings gave the possibility, even if mediated by a screen, to see and talk to each other and to continue the laboratory activities.
This is what also happened with G., with whom we managed to stay in contact during all phases of his hospitalization, both in the hospital and in the residential facility, managing to involve him in the new digital appointments.
This new mode represented a challenge for all of us, a challenge which however was an opportunity for many to experiment with something new, acquiring familiarity with these means and new technological skills. Operators and volunteers have also reinvented themselves, using new ways to stay in touch and support users even remotely.
Today Gino is a little better. Every day he calls us to update us on his health and the question that always ends his phone calls is: “When do the laboratories resume? I miss them, I miss you!”.
For the Foundation, these months of the pandemic have been one stimulus to make people feel that the community we are part of continued to be presentnext to them and it showed us that, sometimes, a limit like online meetings can turn into an unexpected opportunity.
How can we address the problems of drugs, polyconsumption of substances, new addictions, for example, technological ones among young and very young people today?
Extreme youth behaviors, including those mentioned, constitute compulsive responses to problems that require complex responses that should mark the transition to maturity. From my point of view there is the general problem of dependence which is essentially a "crisis of presence" or even a form of "widespread anomie". Two sides of the same coin that refer to feeling permanently out of place, from having a compulsive need for strong sensations to realizing that you are there. Among these responses I also include dependence on ideologies and charismatic leaders, obsessive conformism and even syndromes of social withdrawal that take this feeling of being out of place to the extreme. All these situations refer to a single problem: the absence of community, that is, the absence of significant ties, of relationships in which the young person feels they have a role, feels that their existence has a meaning, can feel their existence because there is someone who shares a dream, a desire with her.
What strategy should services have today to address the problem of youth hardship?
Any service, starting from the school one, should start again not from youthful discomfort, but from the "distress of civilization" from the contemporary forms that existential discomfort takes on, the way of the human animal of being in an organized society. The process of hominization The process of civilisation, even in the most rarefied forms of culture, is still based on processes that concern the body and its emotional expressions. The discomfort of civilization is first of all the difficulty in placing the bodily self in a social process which in its dominant expressions denies all phenomena linked to the body and treats them all as objects of consumption and a supposedly rational hyper-control. Starting from here means working with young people starting from sharing a profound discomfort, starting from the fact that adults and operators demonstrate with their existence and resistance that they know how to be themselves despite everything, despite "all evidence to the contrary" aimed at devaluation of the human. Any service to the person should start from sharing, from trying to build community, from taking care of a common good together which in this case is the psychological well-being of young people and the operators responsible for interacting with them.
To deal with addictions, how can networking be structured that is organic and truly integrated between services and other resources present in the area: schools, voluntary associations, parishes, social cooperatives, employers?
For true networking it is necessary to found an alliance upstream of the services. We need to recognize ourselves together in a territorial community even before in a professional community. The networks have so far been understood as a federation of independent republics, with all the limitations and failures of the case. Instead, we must start from sharing a common good which in this case is the network of community relations. The people are concrete and non-ideological entities, when mutual care exists, when specialists communicate intimately with non-specialist interlocutors. The essence of a true community is the permanent and equal dialogue between people who perform a specialized function and ordinary citizens who are not recipients but interlocutors of those who perform a service. Each service has its own specific logic linked to the techniques it must use in relation to its mission, but all services must operate as part of a community and as founders of that community. As long as the services operate as outposts of the State in territories untouched by grace, the networks do not work and if they work they do so in defense of themselves - of a professional identity as an end in itself - and not in support of the community of life.
Where to start from to start recovery paths for young people and very young people who experience forms of addiction and social hardship?
It is necessary that in every neighborhood, in every territorial unit for which a space for community relations can be envisaged, there is a center for the promotion of sociality that is not only youthful, but concerns all citizens who feel the desire to establish community relations , a place that promotes initiatives and does not limit itself to aggregation, a place where an authentic meeting between generations can take place. In this community "cultivation soup", specialized services can operate that help and support young people in finding the path to significance.
