Minors and mental health: there is a lack of child psychiatrists and there are not enough beds: 395 throughout Italy, there should be at least 700

ROME – The number of children suffering from psychiatric and neurological disorders is on the rise, but there is a lack of neuropsychiatrists specialized in the treatment. There is also a shortage of beds in child neuropsychiatry wards: 395 throughout the country compared to a requirement of at least 700. According to the Italian Society of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry (SINPIA) It is a primary need for the country to train young specialists, bringing the minimum threshold of specialization places per year to 400.

The conference. Promoted by Sinpia and by the Board of Directors of Schools of Specialization in Child Neuropsychiatry, the conference organized in Brescia for next week aims to create an opportunity for discussion between “senior” professionals and the younger generations. in fact, the latter will be called upon to respond to an increasingly urgent need, given the exponential increase in psychiatric and neurological disorders among the youngest, also as a consequence of the pandemic – underlines Prof. Elisa Fazzi, SINPIA President and Director of the OU of Neuropsychiatry of Childhood and Adolescence ASST Spedali Civili and University of Brescia, as well as President and promoter of the conference.

Child neuropsychiatry. The discipline deals with all neurological and psychiatric pathologies of the developmental age, i.e. up to eighteen years, including: autism, complex disabilities, learning and language disorders, epilepsy, movement disorders , depression and mood, conduct and personality disorders. Again: eating disorders, self-harm tendencies and substance addictions, just to name a few. and today the child neuropsychiatrist can also be a central figure for internet and social media addiction.

SINPIA requests. According to Professor Fazzi, it is necessary that the university planning in progress does not leave this discipline without resources: four hundred new specialists are needed every year, considering the epidemiological data and the turnover linked to the average age of current child neuropsychiatrists. something has already been done: this year 283 new places are planned in specialization schools, of which 251 assigned by MIUR and 32 made available by the Regions. it is a number three times higher than that of three or four years ago, yet with these figures it is still not possible to cover the needs.

Perspective risks and solutions. If the problem is not tackled seriously, in a few years Italy will find itself not having sufficient child neuropsychiatrists to deal with the problems and hardships of children and adolescents. consequently the therapeutic communities for minors and the structures that generally deal with these issues will not be able to give the necessary assistance to those who need it. To prevent this from happening, it is necessary to invest in research for new precision therapies, for the experimentation of new rehabilitation methods, for the use and diffusion of new technologies. at the same time, the shortage of personnel in child and adolescent neuropsychiatry services needs to be faced decisively – continues Prof. Fazzi, so as not to have dramatic shortages in the coming years.