Impact of COVID-19 on the Italian Mental Health System: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Abstract Italy has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, consequently producing a heavy burden on the Italian National Health Service. From February 2020 until the end of the same year, the Italian Mental Health System (MHS), comprising an extensive network of community services, was subjected to a significant decrease in standards of care followed at the beginning of 2021 by a slow return to usual levels of activity. Data reported in the present article highlight how the Italian MHS – as was the case in the majority of countries—was largely unprepared for this emergency, suggesting an impelling need to develop appropriate supplementary national plans with the aim of preventing similar situations from developing in the future. The upheaval caused by the pandemic has highlighted the need to reinforce, both at a local and national level, the organization and standards of care of the Italian MHS in order to protect and support the mental health of patients with severe mental disorders, health workers, and the general population, thus preventing a potential “pandemic” of mental disorders.