Going crazy about Covid-19, WHO and UN reports

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Published by Dario Dongo and Sabrina Bergamini on 17th June 2020

Going crazy about Covid in Italy

To go crazy of Covid, in Italy, are many. In politics above all, from the masochism of the aperitifs in the Navigli to the amnesia on family contracts. And it is thanks to bad politics that people with disabilities and mental disorders continue to drown in discomfort.

Few weeks they were enough for the rulers lumbard to transform the RSA (assisted health residences) into contagion outbreaks where to kill rather than assist the hospitalized. Three months from lockdown however, they did not serve to restore serenity, without giving up security, in the lives of the survivors. Which, in many structures, are still subject to a ban on meeting their loved ones.

Three months they were not even enough to organize the reopening of the day and semi-residential centers, mostly still closed. Nor to reactivate home assistance. But the protests of the last and their families remain in the shadows, except for rare shooting in the press still unmatched.

For frail people and with disabilities the disaster announced. Disability alone in Italy accounts for 5,2% of the population (Istat), but not a word is dedicated to it by any of the self-styled experts and politicians who crowd the news.

Covid-19 and mental health

The stress however, caused by the new coronavirus and containment measures has affected the mental health of the populations. Anxiety, depression, distress. At risk are health workers, as well as children and adolescents, women and the elderly alone.

'The impact of the pandemic on mental health of people is already extremely concerning. Social isolation, the fear of contagion and the loss of family members are aggravated by the anguish caused by the loss of income and often of employment. ' (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO, director general)

Depression and anxiety, health workers

Some groups of the population are at greater risk than others from the psychological suffering associated with the pandemic. They are the health workers on the front line, afflicted by grueling work shifts that add to the unknowns and the risks of contagion linked to systematic shortages of personal protective equipment.

OMS refers to high rates of depression (50%), anxiety (45%) and insomnia (34%), in China, during the emergency. In Canada, 47% of health workers reported the need for psychological support. (1) And it is evident that the phenomenon is widespread in all countries where health personnel have suffered the pressure of outbreaks and tragedies.

Children, adolescents, women and the elderly

La closure of schools it has exacerbated social inequities with a severe blow to children and adolescents. Those with disabilities and learning disabilities, which the school system has deprived of all support. But also those who live in confined spaces, in ghettos or homeless, rather than in families where abuse and violence occur.

1,5 billion schoolchildren and students were stolen from a number of essential and compensatory services but also to shared space-time that goes far beyond teaching. And so 'parents in Italy and Spain reported that their children had difficulty concentrating, as well as irritability, restlessness and nervousness'.

At risk anxiety and depression are also women, especially all those who juggle smart working, home care, distance learning. And so are the elderly, who are fragile and alone. In addition to those who already suffered or were predisposed to mental illness.

Mental distress, UN alarm

The UN - in the 'Policy Brief: Covid-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health'- stresses the need to address growing mental distress. (2) Social isolation stresses add to fears of contracting the virus, dying and losing loved ones. The discomfort is then linked to the economic crisis, the loss of jobs and livelihoods, the uncertainties about the future.

Mental health however, it remains one of the most neglected and neglected sectors in health services. UN member countries spend on average only 2% of theirs budget health to the field of mental health. And the economic support for the Covid-19 emergency has yet to reach the majority of the needy, in Italy as elsewhere.

'Now it is very clear that mental health needs must be addressed as a key element of our response and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a collective responsibility of governments and civil society, with the support of the entire United Nations system. A failure to take people's emotional well-being seriously will lead to long-term social and economic costs for society'(Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus)

for further, see our ebooks'Covid-19, ABC'. Volume I - People, Volume II - Society, Volume III - Planet, its https://www.egalite.org/covid-19-abc-i-nostri-ebook-sul-nuovo-coronavirus/

Dario Dongo and Sabrina Bergamini

Note

(1) WHO (2020). Substantial investment needed to avert mental health crisis,

(2) A (2020). Policy Brief: COVID-19 and the Need for Action on Mental Health

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