AI Article Synopsis
- Italy faced two severe lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, first in April 2020 and then in November 2020, prompting a study on the mental health impacts of these restrictions.
- The study included 116 outpatients from each lockdown period and utilized various psychiatric evaluation tools, revealing that approximately 47.4% in April and 50% in November showed significant trauma-related clinical scores.
- The findings indicated persistent high levels of psychological distress and a phenomenon termed "pandemic fatigue," stressing the need for accessible community mental health services, especially for vulnerable groups.
Article Abstract
: Italy was the first country in Europe to face the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and its consequences, which led to two phases of severe restrictions for its population. This study aims to estimate the connections between the trauma of the COVID-19 emergency and the clinical features of a sample of outpatients in a Milan Community Mental Health setting, comparing the first (April 2020) and second lockdowns (November 2020). : The sample included 116 consecutive outpatients recruited in April 2020 and 116 in November 2020. The subjects were evaluated with Clinical Global Impression Severity (CGI-S), Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-18), and Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R). : The IES-R identified 47.4% participants in April and 50% in November with clinical scores over the cut-off. The network analysis of BPRS-18 and IES-R depicted the connection among different symptoms; in April, Unusual Thought Content, Anxiety, and Somatic Concern represented the most central items, and the strongest connections were found between Uncooperativeness and Hostility, Blunted Affect and Emotional Withdrawal, and IES-Intrusion and IES-Arousal. In the November group, the most central items were represented by Conceptual Disorganization and Emotional Withdrawal, whereas the strongest connections were found between IES-Arousal and IES-Intrusion, Excitement and Grandiosity, and Unusual Thought Content and Conceptual Disorganization. : Our findings show continued high distress levels and increased psychological burdens during the second phase of restrictions; this could be described as "pandemic fatigue", a general psychological weariness due to pandemic-related restrictions, as well as a lack of motivation to comply with them. As mental health professionals, our mission during these difficult times has been to keep community psychiatry services accessible, with particular regard to vulnerable and marginalized populations.
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| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9504059 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/medicina58091274 | DOI Listing |
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