He had asked for help on June 20. Abderrahim Fakir, according to what Ansa reconstructs, had gone to the Maggiore hospital in Bologna that Saturday morning for a psychiatric problem. Sent to the mental health center, he presented himself in the following days to be visited and listened to. Having made an initial diagnosis and given him treatment, he was then invited to come back for a second appointment in early August. We don’t know what happened while we waited. If he had continued to take the therapy, if his ghosts had abandoned him at least for a moment or if, instead, they didn’t give him a break. What we know is that he was a man who was ill and who died while the officers immobilized him. A tragedy for him, his family, but also for the men called to intervene. Beyond the responsibilities, all to be clarified and which do not need stadium cheering, the issue remains, which interests all of us, of how Italy takes care of mental illness.
It is not a small topic because, although our country boasts a cutting-edge psychiatric law (the Basaglia Law), which places local care and the valorisation of the dignity of the person at the centre, the chronic lack of resources, the fragmentation of services and the constant increase in demand for assistance are putting the entire system in crisis.
Meanwhile the data. Europe, according to the 2025 OECD report, boasts 20% of adults with mild or medium depressive or anxiety symptoms. In more than two thirds of cases the symptoms are underestimated and not treated. Italy is a little above average.
THEOur National Institute of Health reveals that depression alone affects 6 percent of adults and 9 percent of those over 65. And AXA’s Mind Health Report 2025 indicates that 27% of Italians declare they have mental health disorders. It is estimated that in 2024 approximately 16 million Italians have suffered from medium or severe psychological disorders.
Young people are the most affected: ISS monitoring shows an increase in depressive symptoms in the 18-34 age group. In 2024, the rate of new diagnoses among 18-24 year olds is very high: 105.6 cases per 10,000 residents for females and 82.4 for males. Even more worrying is the fact that 75% of adult mental disorders begin before the age of 25. The gender gap is also significant: the female depression rate is almost double that of males (46.5 cases per 10,000 versus 27.0), and women represent 55.9% of users of specialist services.
Although disorders are growing, investments in mental health in Italy are among the lowest in Europe. The ISS report confirms that per capita spending is one of the lowest on the continent. Between 2016 and 2022, allocations in this field fell from 3.739 billion euros to 3.589 billion, despite the fact that in the same period the National Health Fund (FSN) grew from 106.9 to 119.7 billion. Mental health spending only accounts for about 3.49% of the total healthcare budget.
Lack of staff is the most critical issue. The ISS highlights iThe number of mental health workers is almost 30 percent lower than the standard needed to provide services. Italy has only 3.5 psychologists per 1,000 inhabitants and spending on prevention is just 0.6% of GDP, far below the Nordic and Central European countries.
THEFurthermore, the number of acute psychiatric beds in Italy is among the lowest in the world: 0.1 per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to an OECD average of 0.64. This deficiency prevents many patients from receiving timely hospitalization in acute moments. The situation of minors is dramatic. The latest census records 403 child neuropsychiatry beds across the country, while the estimated need exceeds 700. Some regions do not have any beds dedicated to minors.
Again according to ISS data, in 2024, 845,516 people received specialist services, for a total of over 10 million services provided. However, specialist services cover only around 1.6-1.7% of the population, while real disease rates are estimated to be almost ten times higher. The waiting lists are very long: for the REMS (Residences for the Execution of Security Measures) there are around 700 people waiting to enter, with times that can reach up to 8 months or even a year.
Cittadinanzattiva, in its Civic Audit, also highlights serious shortcomings in accessibility, integration, safety and continuity of care. Protocols between Departments of Mental Health (DSM) and emergency services are often inefficient, and the opening hours of Mental Health Centers (CSM) are limited. More than half of DSMs claim to have peer support programs, but these face a lack of formal recognition, lack of funding and cultural resistance.
In the absence of staff to listen and care drugs are increasingly used; between 2015 and 2023, the number of patients treated with antipsychotic drugs increased by 63%with a particularly high peak in the South and in the Islands.
In this crisis of chronic underfunding, staff shortages, shortage of beds, profound territorial inequalities and fragmentation of services the highest price is paid by the most vulnerable. Like Fakir and not just him. Who knows how it would have gone if there had been availability for an appointment before the beginning of August…
