RPT - Italy In Psychological Crisis As COVID-19 Wreaks Havoc On Mental Health - Guild

GENOA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 08th April, 2020) Italy is in the state of psychological emergency triggered by the COVID-19 crisis, as doctors, journalists and people living on their own have become overwhelmingly distressed and in need of help, David Lazzari, president of Italy's National Council of the Order of Psychologists (CNOP) told Sputnik in an interview.

Italy has been on a nationwide lockdown for 28 days and is still struggling to curb the spread of COVID-19. Despite its best efforts, the country has the highest death toll in the world, which as of Monday has exceeded16,500.

"Psychological distress is widespread throughout the population. We are registering strong growth in stress and requests for help and support that follow. ... The situation is very clear, and it makes us confront the fact that we are facing a health emergency that has also turned into a psychological emergency now," Lazzari said.

Soon after the national quarantine order was announced, CNOP launched the #psicologionline ("psychologists online") initiative, under which many licensed specialists in Italy have agreed to give free online consultations to anyone who turns to them. At the moment, there are over 10,000 psychologists available.

There have been about 100,000 search requests for "psicologionline" on search engines over the past 10 days, which proves there is a great demand for support, according to Lazzari

"Healthcare professionals who work in the hospitals on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19 are particularly exposed to extreme pressure. There is a strong demand for help from them. Unfortunately, those psychologists who work in the hospitals, side by side with doctors and nurses, are very few, and more psychologists should be urgently recruited to do what is needed," Lazzari said.

The National Council of the Order of Psychologists has already filed a request to increase the number of psychologists in hospitals and is now working on a "national intervention protocol" with the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), he noted.

Medical workers, especially in the north of Italy, the epicenter of the nation's outbreak, risk getting contaminated more than anybody else and work long shifts, often without a break. They also fear bringing the infection home after treating patients.

"Unfortunately, many of them have already experienced or will experience in future various forms of burnout or post-traumatic stress disorder. They need adequate psychological support, which must be guaranteed to them," Lazzari said.

Elderly and lonely people are two more categories that are particularly vulnerable. Around 23 percent of the total population of Italy is aged 65 years and older, according to Statista Research Department data. It also estimates the number of single-person households in Italy at around 8.5 million as of 2018, or 14 percent of the population.

"Psychological distress is widespread and is seen across various groups of the population. Especially those of us who live alone and spend this emergency closed off at home in solitude, without relatives or loved ones, are [experiencing] difficulties. From this point of view, the elderly are the weakest also because they are the most fragile when it comes to contagion," Lazzari said.

He said that the most widespread complaints now are anxiety, stress, depression, insomnia; as well as fears of contagion, being stuck at home, forced coexistence, disruption of daily habits, uncertainty about the future and economic and social problems.

"We are in the situation when people's mental and physical well-being is deteriorating badly," Lazzari said.

JOURNALISTS AS WAR CORRESPONDENTS

Journalists, just like doctors, find themselves in highly stressful work situations by ensuring the functioning of the information systems of countries, and risk burnout as well, president of the national council of psychologists believes.

"It has been mentioned many times that COVID-19 has brought us into a war situation. Therefore, journalists who continue to work today are like war correspondents, exposed to a concrete risk. Aware of the danger, they do their job. In these conditions, they are also subjected to great pressure, which leads to various forms of psychological distress, including burnout. If so, they, too, must step forward and turn to professionals for help," Lazzari said.

At the same time, the emergency situation requires the highest degree of accuracy and responsibility in news reporting, he noted.

"Don't isolate yourself. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask for it. Psychological distress must be addressed immediately," Lazzari concluded.

Even though each new day takes away hundreds of lives in Italy, the number of patients in intensive care units has been decreasing for three consecutive days, which gives Italy hope that its situation is improving.

As of Monday, there are 93,187 active COVID-19 cases in Italy. The total number of cases stands at 132,547, including 16,523 deaths, according to the Civil Protection Department.