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The COVID‐19 pandemic, which has affected a significant number of individuals worldwide, is generating serious mental health issues. Recovered COVID‐19 patients have experienced traumatic events related to their symptoms, isolation, possible hospitalization, bereavement, fear of infecting loved ones and the physical consequences of COVID‐19. One effective psychological treatment for these patients is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). The aim of this paper is to describe the therapeutic intervention and effects of EMDR in a pool of COVID‐19 survivors referred to an integrated psychological/psychiatric outpatient service. Twelve patients, comprising of nine males and three females, underwent EMDR psychotherapy from October 2020 to February 2022. Each patient received 8–16 weekly treatment sessions. The standard EMDR protocol of eight stages was administered to enable desensitization and reprocessing of four main targets: first positive swab, hospitalization, isolation and fear for relatives' health. Efficacy of EMDR was demonstrated by the significant improvement at clinical scale for subjective distress caused by traumatic events. For the therapists, carrying out these treatments was an intense and challenging experience. In fact, the perceived distance between therapist and patient was less defined than in other hospital settings because the pandemic affects everyone equally. However, with the widespread availability of vaccines and although the pandemic is still ongoing with the emergence of new variants, a window of improvement in the mental health landscape is starting to open up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the field experience of the psychological staff of Azienda USL-IRCCS di Reggio Emilia, a local health system conglomerate serving half a million inhabitants within a catchment area of the Emilia Romagna Region of Italy, during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. We provided free telephone-based psychological support for the community, with the specific aim of reducing stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences, such as quarantine and lock-down. We describe how the community used this opportunity of psychological support in terms of problems reported and interventions provided. Our field experience suggests that a service of phone psychological support is feasible and quickly implementable in the case of sudden emergencies that affect, to different extents, the whole community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western psychology and social sciences have long emphasized the value of a positive attitude toward oneself. Previous research had developed psychometric tools assessing self-compassion, defined as being open to and moved by one's own suffering. However, self-compassion did not describe whether people actually applied such protective factors when acutely faced with threats. The Unconditional Self-Kindness Scale (USKS) was developed as a tool to measure the behavioral response of self-kindness during an acute presence of threat to the self and not just as a general attitude when threat is absent. Since it can be experienced even in the most challenging situations and may promote resilience, this kindness may be defined as unconditional. We validated the Italian version of the USKS and found that the scale retained a one-factor structure. The USKS showed sound psychometric properties and good convergent validity since it was found to show very strong correlations with the Self-Compassion Scale-Short-Form and the Reassure Self subscale of the Forms of Self-criticizing/Attacking and Self-Reassuring Scale (FSCRS). In addition, the USKS showed good discriminant validity since it was found to show a negative moderate correlation and a negative strong correlation with the HS subscale and with the IS subscale of the FSCRS, respectively. Finally, the USKS showed good test-retest reliability and its use is encouraged in clinical and research settings in which the assessment of a positive attitude toward oneself during an acute presence of threat to the self is of interest.

Accessible summary This study was the first attempt to evaluate burnout occurrence in mental health therapists working in a highly exposed setting, characterized by prolonged exposure to an autism-related work frame and a post-earthquake aftermath., Results strongly suggest that autism therapists exposed to a disruptive earthquake are at higher risk of burnout than caregivers working in typical conditions. In presence of high-risk exposures, burnout occurs rapidly (1 year) with respect to times to event described in the literature (4 years or later)., Efforts are required to help mental health workers, including psychiatric nurses, to cope with the devastating situation determined by an earthquake. Assuming that return to good work conditions, supervision support, and natural adaptation are plausible determinants in reducing burnout risk, a periodical monitoring of mental health status is recommended in mental health works., Abstract The aim of this study was to follow up the occurrence of burnout in therapists of children and adolescents with autism experiencing the 2009 earthquake in L' Aquila, and to discuss implications for burnout prevention after disasters. A longitudinal study was carried out, measuring burnout outcomes according to the Maslach Burnout Inventory in 11 exposed and 53 unexposed therapists. Staff in the exposed group appeared to report significantly higher levels of emotional exhaustion after 1 and 2 years of follow-up than the unexposed staff. As to lack of personal accomplishment, the exposed groups shows increasingly lower scores with respect to the unexposed group, with personal accomplishment ( PA) values falling from 41.0 [standard deviation (SD) 3.7] to 33.4 (SD 4.1) after 2 years, whereas PA values remain stable over time in the unexposed group. As to depersonalization, data show no significant difference between groups. Burnout occurrence is induced by the exceptional stressors related with natural disasters like earthquakes. Efforts are required to help mental health workers, including psychiatric nurses, to cope with the devastating situation determined by an earthquake. A periodical monitoring of mental health status is recommended in mental health works, especially with regard to help with post-traumatic stress disorder, coping with work and therapeutic relationships, family and social life and economic impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Drawing is a preferential mode for trauma-affected children, for expressing emotions, as it gives them the possibility of conveying the complexity of traumatic feelings, perceptions, thoughts and memories, by giving them a shape and, therefore, a sense. Notwithstanding these assumptions, the efficacy of art therapies with children exposed to natural disasters, has not been research-proved. This paper presents a pilot study on the use of the “Test de trois dessins : avant, pendant et avenir”, as a diagnostic tool and a therapeutic technique, with children victims of the earthquake that affected the Italian region of Abruzzi, on the 6th April 2009. The analysis of case studies demonstrates the efficacy of the test in both detecting the presence and the extent of the psychological trauma, and in enhancing the process of trauma recovery. Further researches, which may use qualitative and quantitative methodological tools, need to be done in order to validate the use of the “Test de trois dessins : avant, pendant et avenir” as a validated technique with children experiencing disasters. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The history of psychological trauma is neglected in the psychiatric literature in comparison with other mental diseases. Most mental disorders have a long documented history (e.g. depressive disorders and anxiety disorders), and boast scores of medical sources since ancient times. Although scarce, there is evidence of psychological trauma in historical, literal, mythical and medical manuscripts. These fragments provide us with hints of psychological trauma throughout human history, shedding a bit of light on the concept of psychological trauma. The author presents evidence of psychological trauma from antiquity to the Renaissance era. The paper has four parts. Each part corresponds to a different historical period. The four periods in human history are: antiquity, ancient Greece and Rome, the dark and medieval ages and the European Renaissance era until the 16th century. The author inquires as to why psychological trauma was neglected and remained obscure for centuries, and whether there was a common denominator of psychological trauma that is beyond culture, race, gender and time. The paper aimed to address these inquires. In conclusion, these aspects in the history of psychological trauma are of scholastic and practical importance, and may also contribute to the broader understanding of modern psychotraumatology. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers (HW) have faced an extremely difficult work environment, with an increased workload and traumatic events. Our study aimed to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on HW's mental wellbeing. We analyzed the correlations between levels of burnout and other mental health disorders and we searched for the presence of specific risk factors of post-traumatic symptomatology related to the pandemic. A structured an on-line questionnaire and validated instruments were completed by a sample of HW from some hospitals in Genoa, Italy. Anxious, depressive, post-traumatic and other psychological symptoms were assessed and risk factors, related to the pandemic, were considered. Then, we investigated the correlation between levels of burnout and the risk of developing psychopathology. A total of 731 HW were screened, and we found increased levels of anxiety (61%), depression (62%), PTSD (34%) and high levels of burnout; especially emotional exhaustion (37%). A statistically significant association between burnout and insomnia, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic symptoms was demonstrated. This study indicates that during the COVID-19 pandemic, HW showed high levels of psychological distress and that burnout is an important predictor of sufferance. These findings support the idea to provide psychological and psychiatric support for HW.

Body awareness disorders and reactivity are mentioned across a range of clinical problems. Constitutional differences in the control of the bodily state are thought to generate a vulnerability to psychological symptoms. Autonomic nervous system dysfunctions have been associated with anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress. Though interoception may be a transdiagnostic mechanism promoting the improvement of clinical symptomatology, few psychometrically sound, symptom-independent, self-report measures, informed by brain-body circuits, are available for research and clinical use. We validated the Italian version of the body perception questionnaire (BPQ)-short form and found that response categories could be collapsed from five to three and that the questionnaire retained a three-factor structure with items reduced from 46 to 22 (BPQ-22). The first factor was loaded by body awareness items; the second factor comprised some items from the body awareness scale and some from the subdiaphragmatic reactivity scale (but all related to bloating and digestive issues), and the third factor by supradiaphragmatic reactivity items. The BPQ-22 had sound psychometric properties, good convergent and discriminant validity and test-retest reliability and could be used in clinical and research settings in which the body perception assessment is of interest. Psychometric findings in light of the polyvagal theory are discussed.