Young Europeans they are faced with increasingly difficult conditions on a daily basis: from complicated access to the world of work to parents' expectations, up to the paradox of the internet and social media, which connect and separate at the same time.
A greater number of young people exhibits symptoms of mental distress, such as high stress, anxiety, depression, addictions. making it harder to build your life plan and find your place in the world.
For this reason, the European Union promoted a new Strategy on the topic in 2018. One of the objectives identified concerns "Mental health and well-being", aimed at promoting the social inclusion of all young people, improving their mental well-being and eliminating stigmatization towards them.
This project fits into this framework by investing in training and recognition of the skills of employees Youth Workers who have the task of guide and support young people in their development personal, social and educational helping them to achieve and express their full potential in society. Youth workers, by learning a series of skills ranging from emotional intelligence to self-awareness, to time management and coping with external pressure, play a key role, with teachers and other professionals, in providing training for young people on mental health problems and on building emotions and dealing with mental health.
Serious mental disorders that can compromise parenting ability. In the research conducted, children frequently report experiences of neglect and abuse, feelings of fear or danger due to the psychiatric symptoms of their parents for whom they are "forced" to become caregivers.
The data and research on this condition are fragmented and too often incomplete, but they provide a dramatic picture. In 2004 (Nicholson et al.) reported that the 67% of women and the 75% of men experiencing conditions of serious mental distress (including schizophrenia, bipolar disorders, severe depression) are parents.
Furthermore, the interaction between genetics and environment in combination with high exposure to emotional stress represents a risk factor for children (both minors and adults) to develop psychiatric problems in the future.
Hence the need to raise awareness and inform civil society on the topic and to focus on concrete tools to support the children of parents with mental health problems. The project therefore worked, thanks to the collaboration of partners from different countries (Belgium, Greece, Italy and Turkey), on sharing good practices on advocacy strategies and promoting a change in policies at national and EU level. The main recipients of the information and awareness actions, in addition to mental health professionals, were family caregivers: to orient them to the support services of mental health services and to promote the exchange of experiences and mutual help.
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.
Photo by Alan Cabello from Pexels
The news of recent weeks tells us how the link between the pandemic and mental health is increasingly close. On the one hand, the COVID-19 emergency has forced healthcare facilities to put, for example, the treatment of certain chronic diseases or mental health services on the back burner. On the other hand, it has increased the isolation of people with mental problems and their families.
The case of Caronia, with the escape of Viviana Parisi, her death and that of little Gioele, testifies in fact how the lockdown triggered the disease and how the failure to accept and take charge of it resulted in tragedy.
Assisting a terminally ill patient in solitude night and day, protecting a mentally ill person without adequate support, dealing with the unpredictable economic consequences of the health crisis, making oneself useful in alleviating the isolation of others, of a family member, of an elderly neighbor, of one's neighbor: they are these are some of the testimonies we have collected in these months of activity.
The 14th edition of the training course "Volunteers online for mental health" was born from the link between pandemic and mental health, organized by the Di Liegro Foundation, which this year has the theme "From isolation to resilience. The role of volunteering".
FROM ISOLATION TO RESILIENCE. THE ROLE OF VOLUNTEERING: PROGRAM
The lessons of the course “From isolation to resilience. The role of volunteering" will be held on Saturday, from 10.30 to 12.30, at the headquarters of the Di Liegro Foundation, in via Ostiense 106, in Rome (Metro B stop Garbatella).
FIRST MEETING – 3 OCTOBER 2020
VHELP AND COMMUNITY: STARTING AGAIN FROM THE CRISIS
Luigina Di Liegro, General Secretary of the Di Liegro Foundation
Andrea Volterrani, Sociologist, researcher and teacher at the University of Rome Tor Vergata
SECOND MEETING – 17 OCTOBER 2020
HOW ARE YOU? DISTANCING, ISOLATION AND SOLITUDE
Massimiliano Aragona, psychiatrist and philosopher
THIRD MEETING – 24 OCTOBER 2020
SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS, A NEW PARADIGM
Pierangelo Di Vittorio, philosopher and writer
FOURTH MEETING – 7 NOVEMBER 2020
RESILIENCE AS A MENTAL HEALTH TOOL
José Mannu, Psychiatrist
FIFTH MEETING – 21 NOVEMBER 2020
STRESS AND TRAUMA, REBORN FROM DISCOMFORT
Silvia Pepe, Psychologist and psychotherapist at the Institute of Relational Psychotherapy
SIXTH MEETING – 28 NOVEMBER 2020
ADDICTIONS AND LIFESTYLES DURING THE PANDEMIC
Giuseppe Ducci, Director of DSM ASL Roma1
Alessandro Vento, Psychiatrist, CSM ASL Roma2
SEVENTH MEETING – 5 DECEMBER 2020
THE ROLE OF THE VOLUNTEER. REFLECTIONS, METHODOLOGIES, EXPERIENCES
Michele Di Nunzio, Psychiatrist UOC SPDC San Filippo NerI
The participation fee for the course is €35, for university students €25.
Register to participate in the training course
The 14th edition of the training course kicks off on October 3rd "Volunteers and families online for mental health", This year's theme is "From isolation to resilience. The role of volunteering". For fifteen years, volunteer training and orientation on mental health have in fact been the main vocation of the Don Luigi Di Liegro Foundation.
Register to participate in the training course
The pandemic has shaken the foundations of our daily life: health emergency, economic crisis and social problems have determined and exacerbated tensions whose future developments we do not know. Resilience has thus become an indispensable ability to adapt to guarantee quality of life and protect mental health put to the test by these latest events.
Among the "groups" in difficulty and about which little is said is that of volunteering. The pandemic crisis has led to the closure of several third sector organizations and the interruption of their activity risks depriving the community of the services offered so far. Yet, today more than ever, the contribution of volunteers who embody and bear witness to an indispensable value in the reality of their actions is indispensable: the gift.
A society without the culture of giving is destined to ignore the value of man which instead finds exaltation in the civil practice of the spirit of volunteering. Volunteering is one of the noble tools available especially to young people to contribute to the construction of a civil society. Learning to give yourself to others will allow those who tomorrow will be a doctor, a worker, a lawyer to live their experiences with a different, more supportive spirit. This is the value of a gift and it is this wealth that motivates volunteers to make sacrifices with a light heart.
The lessons of the course "From isolation to resilience. The role of volunteering" will be held on Saturday, from 10.30 to 12.30, at the headquarters of the Di Liegro Foundation, in via Ostiense 106, in Rome (Metro B stop Garbatella).
It will be possible to participate both in person, while places are available, and on a digital platform.
Register to participate in the training course
FIRST MEETING – 3 OCTOBER 2020
VHELP AND COMMUNITY: STARTING AGAIN FROM THE CRISIS
Luigina Di Liegro, General Secretary of the Di Liegro Foundation
Andrea Volterrani, Sociologist, researcher and teacher at the University of Rome Tor Vergata
SECOND MEETING – 17 OCTOBER 2020
HOW ARE YOU? DISTANCING, ISOLATION AND SOLITUDE
Massimiliano Aragona, psychiatrist and philosopher
THIRD MEETING – 24 OCTOBER 2020
SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS, A NEW PARADIGM
Pierangelo Di Vittorio, philosopher and writer
FOURTH MEETING – 7 NOVEMBER 2020
RESILIENCE AS A MENTAL HEALTH TOOL
Jose Mannu, psychiatrist
FIFTH MEETING – 21 NOVEMBER 2020
STRESS AND TRAUMA, REBORN FROM DISCOMFORT
Silvia Pepe, psychologist and psychotherapist at the Institute of Relational Psychotherapy
SIXTH MEETING - 28 NOVEMBER 2020
ADDICTIONS AND LIFESTYLES DURING THE PANDEMIC
Giuseppe Ducci, Director of DSM ASL Roma1
Alessandro Vento, psychiatrist, CSM ASL Roma2
SEVENTH MEETING – 5 DECEMBER 2020
THE ROLE OF THE VOLUNTEER. REFLECTIONS, METHODOLOGIES, EXPERIENCES
Michele Di Nunzio, UOC SPDC psychiatrist San Filippo Neri
The participation fee for the course is €35, for university students €20.
The payment takes place in the form of a donation to the Don Luigi Di Liegro International Foundation and is therefore deductible from the tax return. Payment can be made via:
Register to participate in the training course
Educational poverty and commitment of the Third Sector: Joining forces, training and informing, reflecting on the meaning of equality and equity. But above all, take into consideration the needs of young people and make them protagonists. These are the themes of the speech Anna Maria Palmieri, psychologist-psychotherapist of the Di Liegro Foundation at the workshop “The Educational Community in the time of coronavirus. Analysis, reflections, ideas and proposals for the creation of a Smart Educating Community", organized by the "Free the future" project.
To fight educational poverty, the Third Sector can contribute to helping schools by joining forces. This does not mean delegating roles and functions, but valuing everyone's strengths and understanding the contribution that each entity can make for a path, a common project like “Free the future”.
Another fundamental aspect is to support training as well information activities, which is a distinctive feature of the Di Liegro Foundation. The different educational agencies must engage on both fronts, as training and information agencies, which favor both formal and non-formal learning modes. It can happen within youth aggregation centers or in training courses, where it is possible to experiment with different paths compared to institutions or alongside them to create generative movements.
At the same time, it's important distinguish between “equality” and “equity”. Equality requires that everyone is treated in the same way, that everyone has the same things: in the case of distance learning it means providing a good connection and a valid computer to everyone. Equity instead means giving the same opportunities. If we go to the etymology of the word "crisis" (from the Greek "krino": separate, discern, judge), we see that the crisis caused by the Coronavirus offers us the opportunity to evaluate and make new choices, in short, to seize an opportunity. For this reason, the needs of young people must be kept in mind. Equity, therefore, also means considering that the evolutionary trajectories of adolescents are not all the same, so making sure that with distance learning, in front of a monitor, they do not get lost. We must ensure that every child can find their own educational channel to express themselves.
Just think about technology. Alongside digital natives we find digital immigrants, those born before '95. During the COVID-19 emergency, this disparity in IT knowledge clearly emerged and, in many cases, it was the students who taught their teachers how to use the platforms. It was about an important moment from an educational point of view, because it allows children to have their competence recognized in mutual training courses and to be taken seriously. Our experience with the Di Liegro Foundation, with emotional literacy projects and peer education, tells us that one of the main needs of children is precisely this: to be taken seriously.
In fact, experience tells us that it is difficult to involve children in projects. In adolescence the points of reference change, the privileged interlocutors of their dialogue are no longer family and school, but the group. This is why it is necessary to choose different methodologies (such as peer education and youth workers, to get young people working on a range of skills. Educational poverty must not be accompanied by emotional poverty. We know that learning goes hand in hand with emotion and that emotions support learning: we must therefore support emotional and social skills,. A complexity that the School is called to keep in mind. Working together, joining forces to address these complexities is the way forward.
#Freethefuture is a three-year project, in which the Di Liegro Foundation also participates, dedicated to Roman students, between 11 and 17 years old, from five Municipalities of the Capital (I, VII, VIII, forms of youth hardship, such as dropping out of school, petty crime and vandalism. The objective of #Liberailfuture is to reduce the threat of isolation and social marginalization. With the hope, once the project is concluded, of having created a neighborhood relational fabric capable of supporting the identity formation of the new generations (community welfare) and of restoring to young people the value of solidarity and active participation in civil life.
Substance addictions and pathological behavioral addictions in young people represent a social emergency. The spread and consumption of ever new drugs, but also the abuse of the internet or television, pathological gambling, compulsive shopping or some eating disorders (just to give a few examples) require information and training actions for families, social and health workers, educators and citizens, capable of preventing discomfort.
For years the Don Luigi Di Liegro Onlus International Foundation has been involved in the field of mental health and collaborates with the health and social services of Rome and Lazio to promote recovery and social inclusion paths for people with mental health problems and their families. This commitment has focused over time on youth hardship, with thematic training courses, emotional literacy projects, peer education courses in schools and research activities.
The Di Liegro Foundation and theAddictions Observatory Association have signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening their activities, which will take place at the Foundation's headquarters.
The collaboration includes information and mental health promotion actions through training projects; cultural and social initiatives, organization of exhibitions, seminars, conferences, screenings, debates and courses; research and data collection activities regarding the use/abuse of substances and addictive behaviors, for the purpose of popular scientific publications on the topic.
“The interaction with the Di Liegro Foundation – explained the president of the Observatory on Addictions, Alessandro E. Vento – helps us consolidate the network of institutional relationships. We also signed the agreement for the authoritativeness and seriousness of the contents carried out by the Foundation and their important initiatives open to users of mental health services, their families and people from civil society".
“Mental health in the young age group, a crucial moment in development and for the onset of possible difficulties in emotional development, is a topic of great importance – he commented Luigina Di Liegro, general secretary of the Foundation – And it makes it necessary to act in terms of information, protection and prevention of discomfort. For this reason, we contribute with determination to the improvement of the NPS Finder created by the Addictions Observatory.
"Creating a community of citizens". Luigina Di Liegro's telephone intervention on "L'Italia in diretta", on Radio 1, represented an opportunity to take stock of the activities of the Di Liegro Foundation in the field of mental distress. Activities that never stopped, not even during the months of lockdown, proving even more important in a moment of physical and social isolation
It remained operational every day SOSS, Orientation and Social Support Service, which offers assistance to the families of people with mental health problems, via email, telephone and in person (with an appointment). The service supports and seeks solutions to existing problems by indicating and directing towards the public socio-health facilities with which the Foundation has collaborated closely since its inception.
Often, mental distress is removed or addressed when it is chronic. Instead, explained Luigina Di Liegro, it is important to help families identify the problem before it is too late and resort to existing services active in the area.
In recent years, the Foundation has worked to create a community of citizens who, thanks also to its training courses for volunteers, learn to understand and deal with mental distress, creating a relationship with the person who experiences this reality. The following are also an important part of the support network art therapy workshops And self-help groups.
The general secretary then recalled the work of Don Luigi Di Liegro, his uncle, in carrying forward the values of solidarity, animated by the hope and faith that was very deep in him, but which he did not ask others to have. The work of Don Luigi, founder of Caritas of Rome, remains fundamental in supporting the poor and marginalized of the capital and has left an indelible legacy in the world of local volunteering.
Listen to the interview with Luigina Di Liegro
The project was based on the belief that a more welcoming and inclusive society responds more effectively to the many critical issues arising from mental distress. Work, in this sense, represents a fundamental piece in everyone's life and an essential step towards building an autonomous and more fulfilling life.
Over the two years of the project's life, the people involved were included in modular paths which included various actions including: orientation and assessment of skills; empowerment interventions, self-promotion, social inclusion; accompaniment, tutoring and exploration of training and work opportunities; psychological support; family support and counseling.
An individual project was developed for each person taken care of, starting from each person's skills and resources. Comparison and dialogue within professionalizing and expressive workshops was one of the strong elements of the project.
Over 60% of the participants took part in training internships, which in some cases were transformed into actual employment contracts.
From the experience of the "Getting in motion" project, various initiatives on workplace inclusion have arisen over time, also thanks to information and awareness-raising actions in the public and private world on mental health problems.
Il prossimo 12 novembre, dalle 10.00 alle 13.00, si terrà in Fondazione un convegno che esplorerà il tema della detenzione e del disagio psichico: "Dalla comunità alla Rems, passando per il carcere. Il viaggio di una madre nel buio delle istituzioni" . La proiezione del docufilm Io combatto di Loretta Rossi Stuart sulla storia di suo figlio Giacomo sarà, inoltre, lo spunto per una successiva tavola rotonda di approfondimento con i media.
Con l’approvazione della legge del 30 maggio 2014 n. 81 si converte, con modificazioni, il decreto-legge 31 marzo 2014, n. 52, recante “disposizioni urgenti in materia di superamento degli ospedali psichiatrici giudiziari”. Ed è così che dal 31 marzo 2015 vengono chiusi gli Ospedali Psichiatrici Giudiziari (O.P.G.) favorendo il passaggio alle Rems, (Residenze per l’Esecuzione delle Misure di Sicurezza). Le Rems sono strutture sanitarie di accoglienza per gli autori di reato affetti da disturbi mentali (infermi di mente) e socialmente pericolosi.
Dal momento in cui Loretta Rossi Stuart a settembre scorso ha deciso di denunciare pubblicamente l’ingiusta detenzione del figlio Giacomo Sy, ad oggi, non arrivano ancora risposte sulla confusa situazione che riguarda le liste di attesa di ingresso alle Rems.
Il convegno si pone l’obiettivo di attivare una comunicazione tra gli attori in campo, atto a favorire la necessaria evoluzione della riforma che ha portato alla chiusura degli O.P.G. un iter che in questo momento di stasi, provoca il non rispetto e la non tutela dei diritti umani. Giacomo e sua madre, affiancata e sostenuta da associazioni e figure che hanno abbracciato questa causa, si fanno portavoce di un’ingiustizia che riguarda molte altre persone e chiedono soluzioni a beneficio delle tante categorie coinvolte e danneggiate da questo stato di cose, nonché delle generazioni future.
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