Suicidal Behaviors in Patients Admitted to Emergency Department for Psychiatric Consultation: A Comparison of the Migrant and Native Italian Populations Between 2008 and 2015

Abstract

In recent decades, Italy has become a desirable destination for immigrants. In 2014, ive million people (8.2% of the population) were migrants (regular/irregular, documented/ undocumented). This study looks at psychiatric health, an important feature especially for irst-generation migrants and compares the new setlers with the native Italians. It should be noted that the organization of mental health services in Italy strongly relies on outpatient services, while the psychiatric wards, within the general hospitals, usually accommodate patients in acute phases of their disorder. Nonetheless, migrants' irst contact often happens in a psychiatry ward when they are in a severe and acute psychopathological condition. Research methods: Quantitative and qualitative; longitudinal research using oicial statistical and clinical data obtained from records of a public hospital as well as information obtained through professional interview. Results: In relation to mental health, we found that the migrant patients referred for psychiatric consultation to the emergency department (ED) seting were younger, less frequently treated by psychiatric outpatient services, more commonly going to the ED for self-injury and presenting with symptoms of substance abuse and alcohol-related disorders. The native Italian population was older, more frequently retired and/or invalid, more frequently already treated by psychiatric outpatient services for any kind of psychiatric symptoms.Conclusion: The comparison of the sociodemographic and clinical features of immigrants and Italians referred for psychiatric consultation in the ED highlighted some diferences.Implications are discussed in the light of the existing literature.

Mental health in migrants contacting the mental health operational unit of the National Institute for Health, Migration and Poverty (NIHMP): preliminary data

“…According to the stressvulnerability model, on the one hand, we have stressors, including one or more of the following: the end of the links with their country of origin, the loss of social status and network, a sense of inadequacy because of language barriers, unemployment, financial problems, a sense of not belonging, feelings of exclusion and loss of interest in entering into a relationship with others. Hence, migrants might experience a condition similar to bereavement, caused by the loss of their previous social network, relationships and culture (Gramaglia et al 2017). On the other hand, we have vulnerability-related issues, as individual and psychosocial variables, which may also play a role in determining mental health status (Lindert et al 2008).…”