October 10, 2020 is World Day of Mental health (Mental Health Day) and the National Day of the Psychology, established secondarily to the first by thematic assonance. Close to this date, many realities are promoting awareness campaigns for mental well-being aimed at every segment of the population.

PsyPlus Onlus, which shares the mission of the event, has been involved for years in promote access to care through forms of economic sustainability for people in need of help psychological, with financial difficulty. 

The right to mental health

"There is no health, without mental health"

(WHO - Declaration of Helsinki -1982).

The first Mental Health Day was established by the World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1992. 

According to the data of the Ministry of Health updated to 30/07/2020 relating to the year 2018, in Italy there are 837.027 "people with mental health problems" assisted by specialist services. Among the most frequent pathologies: depression, schizophrenia, personality disorders, drug addictions, neurotic and somatoform syndromes. In 2018, people enrolled for the first time in the Departments of Mental health there are 323.707, of which 93,4% made contacts for the first time. 53,8% of cases are women, while 68,3% of the general patient population is over 45 years of age. In both sexes, patients under 25 are less numerous, despite a greater concentration in the 45-54 year old class (Ministry of Health, 2020).

World Day of Mental health 2020 has as its theme access to care and aims to shed light on the importance of this health policy worldwide.

“Mental Health for All Greater Investment - Greater Access. Everyone, everywhere "

("Mental health for Everyone: More investments, more access ")

This is the 2020 slogan that invites everyone to reflection, action and personal and social responsibility to be able to improve things. It also highlights the need to increase investment in mental health globally, both during this health emergency and in the future.

Bpsychological being and Covid- 19

One consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the massive increase in disruption psychological such as: anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, hypochondria, paranoid thoughts, depressive symptoms. The number of suicides and suicide attempts has risen, not to mention the pre-COVID conditions at risk which have further worsened (Suicide Observatory, 2020; Ansa, 2020). 

Staying closed at home for months, losing or finding oneself with drastically reduced work, depriving oneself of closeness and contact with others, is something that refers a lot to social deprivation, a condition of isolation that can lead to a form of decompensation.

After the lockdown, with the reopening of the roads between Municipalities and Regions and the greater degree of freedom allowed and perceived, there was a further increase in psychological distress as highlighted from The Lancet Psychiatry magazine.

The situation of extraordinary exceptionality in which we found ourselves and which still exists today has focused the spotlight on the importance of appearance psychologicaland mental health and mental well-being. It is hoped that it will represent an important step towards a culture more oriented towards psychological well-being.

Choosing who to trust

One of the best ways to take care of yourself concerns the choice of the professional figure to rely on. In the panorama of mental illness we refer to psychologists, psychotherapists and psychiatrists. Psychic functioning is something very complex, which deserves to be looked after and taken care of by experienced professionals, with ministerial recognized training and specialization.

Il PsyPlus Clinical Advice Center it is made up of professionals with proven psychological-clinical, psychodiagnostic, juridical-expert and psychotherapeutic experience. The main objective is the offer of specialized services at controlled rates. It is a service that is aimed at that segment of the population that needs psychological support, but who is at a socio-economic disadvantage such as to hinder access to treatments provided according to common market rates. 

Relying on good hands and good minds is a act of love towards oneself, it means recognizing one's own value, recognizing one's priority. 

References

Ministry of Health. (2020). Mental health report: Data analysis of the Information System for Mental Health (SISM). Year 2018.

Suicide Observatory. (2020). Focus March - April 2020. Link Campus University, Rome.

Handle. (2020) “Coronavirus: WHO, mental health at risk. Isolation, fear, economic crisis produce psychological damage ”. Rome.

Pereira-Sanchez, V., Adiukwu, F., El Hayek, S., Bytyçi, DG, Gonzalez-Diaz, JM, Kundadak, GK, ... & Ransing, R. (2020). COVID-19 effect on mental health: patients and workforce. The lancet psychiatry, 7(6), e29-e30.

Dr. Melania Di Nardo

*Psy + Onlus is an organization that deals with making psychology accessible to everyone. For information on treatments and access to support paths, contact the toll free number 800.91.04.89 or visit the section of Psychological Clinical Counseling Center of our site. 

** Notes on the author: Melania Di Nardo is a Psychologist and Psychotherapist with a Psychoanalytic orientation. Since 2015 she has been engaged in private clinical activity as a freelancer in the city of Pescara, mainly targeting adolescents and adults. Since 2018 she has been working as a psychologist consultant in the Psychological Listening Center (CASA) of Chieti Scalo. Since 2019 she has been an ordinary member of PsyPlus.