Being poor is bad for your health, even mental.
Yet the idea persists that psychological assistance is a necessity, if not a whim, reserved for the wealthy class, the only one that has money to spend in conversation with the psychotherapist, in private practice with pictures of landscapes hung in the room the waiting and the couch in the films skin.
This is not surprising when we consider that psychotherapy is virtually private monopoly: in 2016, only just over six percent of the nearly 12 million for the performance delivered by the NHS mental health were linked to psychological psychotherapeutic activities.
David Lazzari, president of the Order of Psychologists of Umbria and board member of the National Council, estimated that 80 percent of psychological treatments in Italy are paid by the citizens of their own pockets.
Also, you want to ask for help to deal with a difficult situation or uncomfortable when it comes to going to a psychologist seems that still prevails a sort of distrust of public facilities.
Perhaps you are afraid of not being accepted, that the state can only deal with extremely serious cases, the waiting lists are too long; perhaps, simply, you do not know where to turn.
Yet many services are already active, and soon could be boosted.
But how it really works?
Who to contact?
And at what cost?
We tried to do some 'clarity.
First, there is no valid standard path across the country.
The Ministry has indeed established that psychological care is an essential service for people's health, but they are the regions to then having to take actual delivery of services and resources in the area, activating the various local health authorities (ASL).
Not always there are psychological autonomous units who should be contacted; many psychologists are employed in psychiatric services, the service for drug addiction, working with patients or their families in the hospital, and can be difficult to navigate.
There are regions and provinces where you can actually turn to a clinic and book directly a first consultation psychological free or by paying a ticket contained, more or less analogous to that of a specialist-visit should be around 20 Euros.
But in several cases it is still necessary to present a doctor's prescribing physician or, sometimes, support a psychiatric examination (and pay for another ticket) to be able to get an appointment.
The best thing is to do a quick search on the internet to locate contacts to the public relations office of your ASL or windows dedicated psychological assistance, if any, to obtain reliable information about available services and how to access them.
If it does not put us at ease, it may be a good idea to discuss with your doctor and ask for advice on how to move.
Once with the trader has established that, indeed, the psychological therapy route is more suited-and therefore, it is not a problem for which it is best to turn to a psychiatrist, or social services, or any other figure required-you can start a cycle of psychotherapy sessions of different types (cognitive-behavioral, family, group, to mention some of the most common) and duration, depending on staff availability and the patient's situation.
At the moment, you can prescribe up to a maximum of eight sessions at a time, for a total cost that is around 36 total euro (much less than you spend for a single session by a private psychologist, which usually exceeds 60 ), but the prescription is repeatable, so it was not fixed a real limit that they can not overcome.
As for waiting times obviously vary from area to area, also based on the severity, explains Elena Bravo, president of the Italian Society of Psychology of Regional and Hospital Services.
"You can not separate the waiting time by a sort of clinical priority," he notes.
It should work a little 'as with the codes of the emergency room: a serious case, perhaps marked by social services, the appointment should arrive within a few hours, whereas if there is no emergency time can be extended.
Leaving aside the extreme cases such as the Policlinico di Bari where the waiting list is up to 2019, let's say you wait a few weeks can return to normal.
For issues related to child care, relationships or maternity path, it may be worth also check the charter of family counseling services in your area.
Usually they offer counseling sessions or shorter-supportive care of psychotherapy-but they can be helpful in managing difficult situations.
A limit accessibility of public health in psychology is perhaps in the fact that it is not expected a nearby private regime.
That is, while the medical services the citizen who has a prescription, please contact the public service, but also to the private agreement-that is offering a discounted price to the patient-in psychological treatment this possibility does not exist, except in the experimental stage.
Outside of the network of public health, sometimes you can still access free resources, or almost.
Many universities have, for example, psychological counseling offices for students.
These are mainly intended to intercept high-risk situations, but they represent a valuable intervention tool, if only to direct those in need to the most appropriate specialist resources.
Similar initiatives are often promoted by associations and groups dedicated to specific diseases or inside public assistance.
In short, the national scene is quite varied and the numbers tell us that there is still a way to go before public health will become the benchmark for psychological assistance; but few resources exist and it is important to recognize that you can ask for and receive help without having to shell prohibitive figures.
The psychological well-being can not be considered a luxury, and that the law has already recognized.
Ithaca Project is an association of volunteers for mental health.
If you need help or want to get in touch with them, call the toll free number 800 274 274 (02 29,007,166 mobile) or send an email to
From Vice