Federico Durbano

By Roberta Anniverno, Alessandra Bramante, Claudio Mencacci and Federico Durbano

Part of the book: New Insights into Anxiety Disorders

By S. Doria, F. Irtelli, R. Sanlorenzo and F. Durbano

Anxiety is a potential cause of serious influence in a person's daily life. This chapter is focused specifically on the effects of the work environment factors in disease development and progression. Working environments are places of significant sources of stress: they put us in connection with our duties and expectations (often not coincide with reality) and with a "forced socialization." Especially forced socialization is to be considered a main source of stress in work places, inducing negative outcomes in work and social relationships. The psychosocial risks of work places can so be defined according to design, organization and management of work as well as to social and environmental contexts that may lead to damage of physical, social and psychological domains. Stress can then be defined as a pattern of emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological reactions to adverse and noxious aspects perceived as the contents of the working environment. Thanks to the beginning of psychosocial research on the working environment, the impact of some aspects of the work environment on health has become an object of study, as the interventions to mitigate it. Yoga, meditation, and mantra techniques, as described in this work (presenting others’ experiences and two of own current projects, used in a hospital workplace to control the condition of occupational stress but also in a clinical sample), showed the potential in considerably reducing anxiety and mood symptoms.

Part of the book: A Fresh Look at Anxiety Disorders

By Federico Durbano

Part of the book: Psychotic Disorders

By Floriana Irtelli and Federico Durbano

The quality of life concept was born in the 1970s within the social sciences and soon it arrived in the field of medicine and health, where this notion has been considered as a criterion to evaluate health interventions. The World Health Organization defines quality of life as the subjective perception individuals have of their life position, in their cultural context and value system, in relation to their objectives, expectations, standards, and worries. It is a very complex and articulated conception, and as a matter of fact in this chapter, we will analyze an overview about this topic, to examine it in depth, and clarify this concept; synthetically, we can note that the quality of life is specified by the perception of one’s physical, psychological, and emotional health, by the degree of personal independence, by social relations, and by the type of interaction with one’s context. We can note that this construct is broader than that of health, it is not a synonym of it, and it is also important to point out that the definition of the World Health Organization about this topic connects elements resulting from an enormous amount of studies. In this sense, being healthy is considered one of the numerous quality of life dimensions, and health-facilitating behaviors are judged as predictors of the quality of life itself. Moreover, the definition of quality of life always includes a reference to the individual’s physical state, but it is not considered only on the basis of a person’s bodily functions, detectable with standardized parameters, since it is described in relation to the perceived satisfaction degree regarding this functionality level. This kind of definition shifts the emphasis from the objectively definable functionality to the subjectivity dimension; the detection of both these two aspects can constitute a reliable quality of life measure. Furthermore, we can note that the most common method for measuring quality of life is the administration of questionnaires and, in addition, that there are two questionnaire types: generic and specific for pathology. Finally, this chapter highlights the importance of the biopsychosocial paradigm in relation to the quality of life concept.

Part of the book: Quality of Life

By Federico Durbano, Barbara Marchesi, Silvia Carnevali, Luisa Elisabetta Sonzogno and Claudio Arici

The Covid-19 pandemic, started brutally in February 2020 in Northern Italy (first European area hit by virus), has induced the most drastic and prolonged containment measures by a European government. The most affected areas of the Italian territory were Lombardy and Veneto. A severe and global lock-down was ordered for more than two months, with the closure of essential medical services among others. All health resources have been diverted to address the health crisis caused by the pandemic. During the lock-down, however, the only community medicine services that remained open were mental health services: psychiatry, the area of addictions, child neuropsychiatry. The community facilities have always provided services favoring, on the one hand, the maintenance of care and rehabilitation paths for patients in care, and on the other, allowing anyone who needs to have access to treatment. The operators were also involved at the forefront in the management of covid + patients and in the support paths for the management of the operators’ stress. In this chapter, we want to describe the working conditions and the organizational responses of our services, referring to a large catchment area of the region most affected by covid-19.

Part of the book: Anxiety, Uncertainty, and Resilience During the Pandemic Period

By Floriana Irtelli, Federico Durbano and Barbara Marchesi

Every human psychic aspect, even the development of the Self, cannot be considered separately from the financial and cultural context in which it is inserted: as a matter of fact the realization of individual freedom is correlated to broader economic and social changes, which influence the individual on self-realization. In the chapter, various theories about this topic and about the ideal self are explored, and it concludes by considering that self expression helps people to satisfy their real emotions and their real self, it also highlights the fact that self-realization and self-expression are among the highest needs on the human needs scale, and they affect human health.

Part of the book: Psychoanalysis

By Federico Durbano, Barbara Marchesi and Floriana Irtelli

There are various types of trauma, some of which can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): they are those involving death, or the threat of death, or serious injury, or the threat to the physical integrity of oneself or others. PTSD often appears associated with other disorders such as depression anxiety disorders and dissociation, and trauma can also increase the possibility that depression and anxiety become autonomous. However, it has long been observed that depression is the disorder that occurs most frequently associated with PTSD. This theme was also explored for the age groups under 18. The need to take into account the complexity of post-traumatic stress disorder and possible comorbidity was then underlined, therefore the use of multiple diagnoses is a valuable element. The diagnosis of PTSD, like that of depression, is a complex diagnosis, articulated on multiple phenomenological levels and it is therefore important in the diagnosis to have clear knowledge of the syndromic grouping of these disorders. The topic of psychodiagnostics was therefore introduced in this area. Finally, the therapeutic objectives common to the various orientations in the treatment of traumatized adults were exposed, and it was specified that the future of research in the field of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy can no longer be represented by a sterile struggle for its affirmation but turns toward the study the best integration of the two approaches.

Part of the book: Depression

By Federico Durbano, Barbara Marchesi and Floriana Irtelli

Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is emerging as a complementary therapy for eating disorders (EDs) and body image disorders, which are often interrelated. Initially developed for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), EMDR has shown promising results in addressing trauma and cognitive distortions associated with these disorders. Recent studies suggest that EMDR may reduce symptom severity, improve body acceptance, and decrease anxiety related to body image. For this reason, a narrative case study has been included in this chapter. The EMDR protocol targets traumatic memories and negative beliefs, facilitating an adaptive reframing of distorted experiences. This chapter explains the theoretical basis of EMDR, its role in overcoming trauma, including relational trauma, and its application in treating EDs and body image disorders. Furthermore, research findings, critical limitations, and future applications are discussed. The integration of EMDR with traditional therapies has demonstrated synergistic potential, accelerating recovery and reducing the risk of relapse. Although further research is needed to validate these preliminary findings and the scientific literature remains limited, EMDR appears to be a promising and complementary approach in the treatment of complex and often therapy-resistant conditions.

Part of the book: Psychotherapy in the Third Millennium