We report in this issue a contribution by Benedetto Saraceno, published in Salute Internazionale (https://www.saluteinternazionale.info), commenting on the WHO 2022 report on mental health in the world.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSensors (Basel)
March 2024
An innovative mobile lidar device, developed to monitor volcanic plumes during explosive eruptions at Mt. Etna (Italy) and to analyse the optical properties of volcanic particles, was upgraded in October 2023 with the aim of improving volcanic plume retrievals. The new configuration of the lidar allows it to obtain new data on both the optical and the microphysical properties of the atmospheric aerosol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt Rev Psychiatry
May 2023
Since 1989, the major professional organization of psychiatrists has expressed concern for the human rights of people with mental disorders: "Involuntary intervention is a great infringement of the human rights and the fundamental freedom of a patient. Therefore, specific, and carefully defined criteria and safeguards are needed for such intervention. Hospitalization or treatment against the will of a patient should not be conducted unless the patient suffers from serious mental illness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEpidemiol Psychiatr Sci
July 2022
The new WHO World Health Report on Mental Health includes a comprehensive and updated assessment of the current mental health situation at the global level, a critical and well-documented reflexion on the progresses achieved and the failures registered in global mental health, and an indication of the paths and strategies that should be prioritised to ensure the transformations that are urgently needed. The report offers significant enrichments on different areas like social determinants, premature mortality of persons suffering from mental disability, the negative aspects of the persistence of inpatient institutions, the role of people with lived experience as important agents of change, the importance of child and adolescent mental health. The present Editorial stresses the importance of Deinstitutionalisation as a cross-cutting element of health policy, plans, budgeting and service organisation and draws attention to the fact that the ubiquitous persistence of large psychiatric institutions is a clear indicator that reality is far from declarations despite the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCovid-19 is referred to as a "syndemic," i.e., the consequences of the disease are exacerbated by social and economic disparity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Identifying which factors contribute to involuntary psychiatric hospitalization may support initiatives to reduce its frequency. This study examines the sociodemographic, clinical, and contextual factors associated with involuntary hospitalization of patients from five Portuguese psychiatric departments in 2002, 2007 and 2012.
Methods: Data from all admissions were extracted from clinical files.
Background: Coercive treatment comprises a broad range of practices, ranging from implicit or explicit pressure to accept certain treatment to the use of forced practices such as involuntary admission, seclusion and restraint. Coercion is common in mental health services.
Aims: To evaluate the strength and credibility of evidence on the efficacy of interventions to reduce coercive treatment in mental health services.
Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
August 2020
Background: Research suggests that economic recessions might be associated with a higher use of psychotropic drugs, but literature is scarce and contradictory in identifying the most vulnerable groups. This study aims to assess possible changes in the use of psychotropic drugs due to the economic recession in Portugal, by comparing self-reported consumption in 2008/09 and 2015/16.
Methods: Data from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative Portugal (2008/09) and the National Mental Health Survey Follow-Up (2015/16) were used (n = 911).
Background: The treatment gap for mental disorders remains a challenge worldwide. Identifying reasons for nontreatment may contribute to reducing this gap.
Aims: To evaluate sociodemographic and clinical factors associated with use and barriers to treatment in Portugal.
Rev Panam Salud Publica
October 2018
Objective: To describe the functioning of Psychosocial Care centers (CAPS) in four Brazilian cities.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study (AcesSUS), 917 CAPS users were interviewed in the cities of Campinas, São Paulo, Porto Alegre, and Fortaleza. Only CAPS focused on severe mental disorders in adults were included, that is, CAPS focusing on substance abuse and on children and adolescents were excluded.
In 1978 Italy implemented Law Number 180, the reform law that blocked all new admissions to public mental hospitals. After 40 years without mental hospitals, we aim at understanding the consequences of the Italian reform in terms of mental health care facility and staff availability. We compared the organization of the Italian mental health system with that of countries belonging to the Group of 7 (G7) major advanced economies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInvoluntary hospitalization has long been a contentious issue worldwide. In Greece, the frequency of compulsory admissions is assumed to be alarmingly high; however, no study has systematically investigated this issue. In line with this, the present study aims to estimate the frequency of compulsory admissions in a psychiatric hospital and to explore its underpinnings.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis work presents and describes a 20-year long database of GPS data collected by geodetic surveys over the seismically and volcanically active eastern Sicily, for a total of more than 6300 measurements. Raw data were initially collected from the various archives at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Catania-Osservatorio Etneo and organized in a single repository. Here, quality and completeness checks were performed, while all necessary supplementary information were searched, collected, validated and organized together with the relevant data.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Mozambique has gradually changed its action on mental health (MH) from an asylum-centric care with long-term hospitalization to an innovative approach to community and primary care.
Objective: To collect essential information on Mozambique's MH system for decision making, to improve quality of services delivered, update MH Strategy and Action Plan.
Method: The study used the WHO-AIMS to assess MH systems including policy and legislation, organization of services, MH in primary care, human resources, public education and link with other sectors, monitoring and research.
Lancet Psychiatry
September 2015
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is a major milestone in safeguarding the rights of persons with disabilities. However, the General Comment on Article 12 of the CRPD threatens to undermine critical rights for persons with mental disabilities, including the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, access to justice, the right to liberty, and the right to life. Stigma and discrimination might also increase.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOn 30 May 2014 the Italian Parliament approved a new law regarding forensic psychiatric hospitals. Forensic psychiatric hospitals are facilities that admit individuals who have committed a criminal offence but lack criminal responsibility because of a mental disorder and are deemed as dangerous to public safety. Here we report the key aspects of the new legislation together with some critical considerations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: A new resolution on mental, neurological and substance use disorders was adopted in January 2012 by the World Health Organization (WHO) Executive Board. The resolution urges WHO and Member States to collaborate in the development of a comprehensive mental health action plan, to be submitted for discussion and approval to the WHO World Health Assembly. This commentary aims at rising awareness on the risk that this resolution may not fulfil its potential.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders are leading causes of the global burden of disease and profoundly impact the social and economic well-being of individuals and communities. The majority of people affected by MNS disorders globally do not have access to evidence-based interventions and many experience discrimination and abuses of their human rights. A United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) is needed to focus global attention on MNS disorders as a core development issue requiring commitments to improve access to care, promote human rights, and strengthen the evidence on effective prevention and treatment.
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