October 24th is officially the deadline for applying for the psychologist bonus has expiredor more precisely of the «Contribution to support the costs of psychotherapy sessions». This measure was envisaged by the Draghi government with the aim of supporting people in a position to anxiety, stress, depression and psychological fragilitydue to the pandemic and the socio-economic crisis, who can benefit from a psychotherapeutic journey.
The contribution, specifically, was thought for people with an Isee income not exceeding 50 thousand eurosin the form of a voucher to discount up to a maximum of 50 euros per session (there is a contribution of 600 euros with Isee less than 15,000 euros, 400 euros with Isee between 15,000 and 30,000 euros and 200 euros with Isee between 30,000 and 50,000 euros).
At the end of the period valid for making the request, the December 7thas reported on the INPS website, the Institute should have concluded the approval of the rankings for the assignment of the bonus. The acceptance of the application will be communicated by INPS by e-mail or text message to applicants. It should already be there procedure for booking sessions and confirming them by professionals. From the day of publication of the message, for those who benefit from the Bonus, 180 useful days to take advantage of it and support the psychotherapy sessions.
A useful measure?
Already last July the Codacons he had underlined how the Psychologist Bonus was a measure that could not have really helped those who, due to Covid, have suffered psychological relapses. “The Psychological Bonus has obvious critical issues – explained the association on the site – First of all i funds made available appear completely insufficient: only 10 million euros will be allocated directly to citizens in difficulty through a voucher to be spent on assistance services. Secondly the Isee roof up to 50 thousand euro to be able to enjoy the bonus appears too high, and it will also include subjects who can independently bear psychological expenses in the audience of beneficiaries ».
Psychologist bonus: how many have requested it
What now seems clear, in fact, is that the funds allocated will not be enough to cover all requests. According to data released on Oct. 10 by a report by the European Commission on the impact of the pandemic on the mental health of young peopleapplications received through the INPS website up to that date there were 300,000, of which 60%, equal to 180,000 applications, came from people under the age of 35demonstrating how this measure could especially benefit the younger ones.
Psychologist bonus: the expert’s point of view
On balance, therefore, will the psychologist bonus prove to be a useful measure? And what do psychologists think?
«The Bonus certainly represents a turning point in terms of an investment in psychology – he specifies Laura Parolin, President of the Order of Psychologists of Lombardy – And the recognition of a growing need exponentially in the years of the pandemic. Many national and international researches have clearly highlighted a really significant increase in psychological distress. A study published in the The Lancet in 2021, just to cite one example, it clearly shows how globally there are 53 million cases of depression and 76 million of anxiety. These are important numbers, much higher than before. Even the data published by the Ministry of Health attest to a significant increase in these disorders.
Therefore, if a positive aspect can be recognized to the Psychologist Bonus, i.e. that of trying to respond to a concrete need of people, on the other it is evident as it is proving to be an insufficient measure.
«The first aspect that we must consider is that it is not a structural measure but lump sum – underlines Dr. Parolin – People who will be able to take advantage of the Bonus will have support for ten sessions but then no other therapeutic cycle is foreseen. It’s about a “buffer bonus” which we can consider positive because it has awakened in politicians an awareness of need but it has proved not enough. In fact, if we look at the Bonus request data and at the actual disbursement possibilities, in terms of funding allocated, we can say that much of the need will go unanswered. We will find ourselves with a very long waiting list of people who in fact will not even be able to benefit from this “buffer measure” ».
Given and considering that this is a strategy that is not enough to respond to the need for psychological support of citizens, what other measures would be desirable?
“Hope is that, precisely in the face of what we have said, other decisions will be made, renewing this possibility of the Bonuses or, what would be even more important, preparing public services to rely on more staff. Psychological support in public health services is unfortunately reduced to the bone, the offer should be strengthened, also because there is no shortage of space to offer this type of service. Ultimately, today, those who can afford it self-finance the sessions and those who cannot afford it do not access the service. And this it is still partly due to a prejudice: what considers this type of treatment superfluous, while in many cases psychological support is essential to allow, for example, children a more adaptive growth but also to allow adults to face the different phases of life».
The psychological well-being of the boys has been greatly undermined by the pandemic: it is not surprising that so many requests for a psychological bonus have come from young people…
«The boys were the widest range that requested the Bonus – confirms Parolin – Today in fact, young people encounter very few proximity services. Schools are under no obligation to open psychological desks: everything is linked to the foresight of the managers and the funds they may have at their disposal. Even in schools where the tradition of the psychologist exists, it is still about a contract figure: this therefore does not guarantee the continuity that the youngsters would need. In Lombardy, a bill was approved which provides for help desks in schools but in fact, at present, the project has not yet materialised. Psychological help desks at school, among other things, represent the best proximity services for children, because they are neutral spaces, they have no connotations, to access them you don’t need to take commitments… this is it very useful from the point of view of prevention so much so that the figure of the psychologist at school is present in all other countries. We are the ones who are still a little behind on this ».
As regards the participation of psychologists, how was the bonus received?
“The psychologists joined in very substantial numbers to the Psychologist Bonus – concludes Dr. Parolin – however, as we said, the the main problem remains the allocated funds which will not be enough to cover all the requests”.
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Source: Vanity Fair
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