Eight out of 10 Italians have had to deal with people with a more or less serious mental disorder.
Prejudices and commonplaces are confirmed, such as the one on the alleged 'dangerousness' of people suffering from mental disorders.
Or what young people are most prone to psychic distress.
While it remains a general shame to talk about one's psychological problems and a 'dispute' opens up between men and women over who is most under stress.
This is the picture that emerges from a survey carried out by Doxa for the Ro.Mens Mental Health Festival, which will be held from 26 September to 2 October in Rome.
The results of the research, carried out on a sample of a thousand people, speak of "a significant presence of mental suffering": 80% of the population, in fact, claims to have related to people with mental disorders, from anxiety or depression to more severe forms such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorders.
The persistence of prejudices not supported by evidence weighs heavily on this: 65% of respondents believe people with mental disorders are dangerous or violent for themselves and 48% believe they are also dangerous for others.
"Stigma - explains Massimo Cozza, director of the Mental Health Department of ASL Roma 2 - is one of the greatest barriers to access to care and leads to social isolation, discrimination, violations of rights in the family, as well as at school.
in the workplace.
People with mental disorders are often considered dangerous.
While, in reality, they themselves are more at risk of being attacked, women in particular are more at risk of abuse. "
Worldwide, mental disorders affected 970 million people in 2019 and increased due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The most common are anxiety and depression, which increased by 25% in the first year of the pandemic;
while schizophrenia occurs in about one in 200 adults and in Italy it is estimated that 245 thousand suffer from it.
Another commonplace that emerged from the Doxa survey concerns young people: 38% of respondents believe, in fact, that the category most prone to the development of mental problems, is that between 14 and 24 years old.
The cross-section also reveals a paradox: in the face of a balance between men and women in suffering from mental problems, there is, however, a mutual tendency to attribute it more to one's gender.
"60% of men think that the male sex is more prone to have mental health problems dictated by stress, while 40% attribute it to women. On the other hand, however, 60% of women believe that it is the gender. women to suffer more. This contradiction speaks of a communication difficulty ", explains Massimo Cozza, director of Dsm Asl Roma 2. Finally, difficulties in sharing psychological problems emerge: 78% believe that they would only talk about it with their closest acquaintances or family members, while 22% would prefer not to tell anyone about it.
On the other hand, the negative mark for those who go to the psychologist seems to be largely overcome: it is not something to keep hidden for 76%.
A positive figure that goes hand in hand with the fact that, at the beginning of September, over 210 thousand requests for the Psychologist Bonus had already arrived at INPS.
The complete results of the survey will be presented on Tuesday in the Campidoglio as part of Ro.Mens, the festival promoted by the Department of Mental Health of the ASL Roma 2.
Breaking down prejudices and debunking commonplaces is the aim of the initiative, thanks to a full calendar of events, ranging from theater to music, from comics to short films.
