The data which illustrates the situation of mental suffering affecting children, young people and adults in our country is worrying. It is no coincidence that the Italian Society of Psychiatry speaks of a new pandemic, especially since after Covid, depressive symptoms in the population increased fivefold. Diagnoses of depression and anxiety increased by 28% and 26%, respectively. Additionally, WHO statistics show that globally, one in seven adolescents aged 10 to 19 suffers from a psychological disorder. This is a framework which involves not only serious human and daily consequences for the individuals concerned, but also a significant impact on various social aspects, notably health, educational and economic. However, one of the biggest barriers people with mental health conditions face is stigma and lack of awareness about mental health. To try to counter this trend, the European Commission launched last June the European Strategy for Mental Health which, by adopting a multisectoral approach, pushes for the issue of mental health to be promoted with particular importance not only by health services, but also through work and school policies.
700 thousand teenagers addicted to the web, social networks and video games
“After the pandemic, we are experiencing a new, almost invisible emergency, which primarily concerns young people. Mental distress is the challenge of our time. The Italian Society of Psychiatry estimates that there are at least 700,000 adolescents addicted to the Web, social networks and video games. For the Brf-Institute of Research in Psychiatry Foundation, 833 suicides were recorded in 2023, or more than two per day,” explains Romana Liuzzo, president of the Guido Carli Foundation. “Harassment, cyberharassment, aggression and “Isolation – he adds – are symptoms of a greater malaise, also induced by the dictatorship of appearance, by the obligation to appear perfect on social networks”.
The proposal on the table of Minister Bernini
It was from this dramatic photograph that a proposal (and a cry) from the Guido Carli Foundation was born, which landed on the table of the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini. “University courses at universities throughout Italy adapted to students with intellectual disabilities, ranging from traditional faculty disciplines, such as law and economics, to experimental and innovative disciplines”: this is the heart of the idea of the foundation also at the center of the Lectio Magistralis tomorrow February 23, at the Luiss University of Rome, hosted by the famous actress and director Claudia Gerini and entitled Imperfect and happy. The courage of fragility against the dictatorship of appearance. The Foundation was inspired by the first university course in Integrated Theater of Emotion, born in 2016 in Tor Vergata, as an experimental training tailor-made for students suffering from mental and physical disabilities of various kinds. “The success of this course gave us direction,” says Liuzzo. “Opening the doors of universities to people with mental disorders is the best way to provide opportunities to those who seem to have none. Against disorientation and prejudice – he concludes – we use the weapons of inclusion and knowledge”.
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