Lombardy's steps forward in the field of mental health

«A clear text aimed at the well-being of the many, indeed, many people, young people, young people and children who have suffered and are suffering especially in this period of pandemic», this is how the regional councilor Niccolò Carretta defined the motion approved yesterday by the Regional Council of Lombardy for the establishment of the figure of the psychologic support for citizens within the services offered by public health. A decision that will now be examined by the Regional Council that will have to define the methods of implementation but that will still become reality in the coming months, marking an important step forward in the discourse on the problem of mental health started at the beginning of the pandemic.

The mental health of citizens in times of quarantine and post-quarantine, the discomfort of a generation that had to give up sociality and school, the fear of going out that replaced the fear of missing something by not going out, burnout and stress – all these times have jumped to the fore at a time when,  Collectively speaking, the world's population has never been so stressed by existential threats such as climate change, the pandemic coming and going in waves, and the crises of the capitalist system that is leading many countries (the latest being the UK) to test different job settings and shorter working weeks.

A first response to this psychological emergency, which had already been deepened by nss magazine a few months before the pandemic with the Digital Cover N.01 - The Dark Side of Gen Z, was the establishment of free basic psychological support services that can offer a first assistance to citizens and then, in case more assistance is needed,  direct them to a specialist. The approval of the Regional Council of Lombardy continues a trend that began in the summer of 2020 in Campania, opposed by the government but finally promoted by the Constitutional Court, and already in motion without developments in Puglia and Lazio. Signs of a wave that in reality in Italy has already manifested itself with the establishment of psychological support services for citizens in isolation, with variations from region to region, but that the figure of the guaranteed psychologist could symbolize with greater force as it is not provisional and as part of the regional health system. From a political point of view, in any case, the approval of the motion of Councilor Carretta is an important recognition that the institutions have made to the problem of mental health for the new and old generations in the post-Covid era.