Help-seeking preferences for mental health are a crucial aspect to design strategies to support adolescents in an emotionally delicate life phase. Informal help-seeking is usually preferred but little was published about preferences in different cultures, and it is not clear whether informal and formal help are mutually exclusive or whether they are part of the same overall propensity to help-seeking. In a survey of 710 students in Milan, Italy, help-seeking propensity measured through an Italian version of the General Help-Seeking Questionnaire was high, similar in males and females (mean total score 3.8, DS 0.9); few (9%) tended not to seek help. The most-preferred source of help was a friend, then father or mother, partner, psychologist and psychiatrist. 355 students (55%) reported high propensity to seek both informal and formal help; 33 (5%) would only seek formal help. Help-seeking should be promoted in itself, rather than indicating professionals and professional settings as primary sources of help.

Lombardy was the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak in Italy, and in March 2020 the rapid escalation in cases prompted the Italian Government to decree a mandatory lockdown and to introduce safety practices in mental health services. The general objective of the study is to evaluate the early impact of the Covid-19 emergency and quarantine on the well-being and work practices of mental health service personnel and professionals. Data were collected through an online survey of workers and professionals working with people with mental health problems in Lombardy in several outpatient and inpatient services. Their socio-demographic characteristics, professional background, description of working conditions during lockdown and psychological distress levels were collected. All analyses were performed on a sample of 241. Approximately, 31% of the participants obtained a severe score in at least one of the burnout dimensions, 11.6% showed moderate or severe levels of anxiety, and 6.6% had a moderate or severe level of depression. Different work conditions and patterns of distress were found for outpatient service workers and inpatient service workers. The overall impact of the Covid-19 emergency on mental health workers’ level of distress was mild, although a significant number of workers experienced severe levels of depersonalization and anxiety. More research is needed to assess specific predictive factors.

Several research contributions have depicted the impact of the pandemic environment on healthcare and social care personnel. Even though the high prevalence of burnout depression and anxiety in healthcare settings before COVID-19 has been well documented in the research, the recent increase in psychological distress and mental health issues in healthcare and mental health workers should be attributed to the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the present study is to develop, evaluate, and compare a model of COVID-19 workplace stressors between two different territories, the Italian region of Lombardy and the Canadian province of Quebec. Within this model, burnout is depicted as the strongest determinant of mental health symptoms for mental health workers. In turn, the main workplace determinants of burnout are the perception of a lack of support from the organization and the fear of contracting COVID-19 at work. Findings also provide insights for designing interventions to promote and protect mental health workers in the context of the pandemic. In conclusion, it is necessary to monitor burnout and carefully analyze elements of organizational culture, in addition to offering clinical and psychological care for those in need.

Background: Several guidelines consider psychosocial treatments an essential component of clinical management of bipolar disorders in addition to drug therapy. However, to what extent such interventions are available in everyday practice to the average patient attending mental health services is not known. Aims: This study aims to investigate access of people with bipolar disorders to psychosocial treatments in a community-based care system. Method: Information on care delivery and service utilization were retrieved from the psychiatric database of Lombardy, Italy, covering a population of 9,743,000, for all adults who had at least one contact in 2009 with psychiatric services. Rates of patients with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder who had access to individual psychotherapy, couple/family therapy, group psychotherapy and family interventions were calculated and compared to patients with schizophrenia and depression. Results: A total of 8,899 subjects with bipolar disorder had been in contact with psychiatric services, corresponding to a treated annual prevalence rate of 1.1‰. More than 80% of patients were treated in community settings. Rates of patients receiving structured psychosocial treatments ranged from 0.7% for couple/family therapy to 6.1% for individual psychotherapy. No differences with patients with schizophrenia and depression were found. Patients with schizophrenia received more interventions labeled as rehabilitation. Conclusion: Few people with bipolar disorders had access to psychosocial treatments. Even in a well-developed system of community care, offer of psychosocial interventions for bipolar disorders is inadequate. This issue should be a target for future research on dissemination and implementation strategies.

Aim.: The Functioning Assessment Short Test (FAST) is a useful instrument for the assessment of overall functioning of people with bipolar disorder, showing good psychometric properties. The aim of this study is to validate the Italian version of FAST.Methods.: Translation and back-translation of the original FAST Spanish version were performed. Participants with bipolar disorder (n = 132) and healthy controls (n = 132) completed the FAST as a part of an assessment package including the Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale and the Young Mania Rating Scale. Internal consistency, inter-rater reliability, construct and discriminant validity were assessed.Results.: The FAST Italian version showed good internal consistency, inter-rater reliability and discriminant validity. The cut-off discriminating patients from controls was 15, with a sensitivity of 0.79 and a specificity of 0.80. Principal component analysis with oblique rotation showed factor loadings consistent with the a priori structure of the instrument.Conclusions.: This study confirmed the psychometric properties of FAST and extended its generalization and validity to the Italian population.