Iss Report

Mental health: depressed and self-harming Italians, growing number of visits to the emergency room

Just over 6 per cent of adults and about 9 per cent of the over-65s report depressive symptoms, rising to 18 per cent and 25 per cent among those living in economic hardship

by Ernesto Diffidenti

9 October 2025

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Adult depressive symptoms
The plight of the over-65s
Demand for care grows
Nutrition disorders, updated map of centres

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Italians are depressed and now also self-harming with a constant growth in emergency room admissions. This is indicated by a snapshot, covering the two-year period 2023-2024, taken by the Passi and Passi d'Argento surveillance units of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, published on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, which is celebrated on 10 October. The data are not encouraging and indicate the need for concrete and timely action: just over 6% of adults and about 9% of the over-65s report depressive symptoms, which increase to 18% and 25% among those living in conditions of economic hardship.

Adult depressive symptoms

The Passi 2023-2024 data show that a small proportion of adults in Italy (just over 6 per cent) report depressive symptoms and perceive their psychological well-being as being compromised for an average of almost 16 days per month.

Depressive symptoms are generally more frequent with advancing age, among women (7%), among people who are socially disadvantaged, due to economic difficulties (18%), job insecurity (8%) or low education (11%), among those who live alone (7%) and among those with a chronic disease (11%).

Only 65% of respondents who report depressive symptoms seek help from someone, turning mainly to doctors/health workers.

In the regions of the South, the prevalence of people reporting depressive symptoms decreased steadily from 2008 to 2024, while in the North, where it started from levels similar to those recorded in the South, the descent stops in 2016 and the prevalence figure remains stable in the following years; in the Centre, where in 2008 higher levels were recorded in the country, the reduction was initially rapid, reaching values similar to the rest of Italy, but then stops and the trend reverses in 2018, increasing until 2024.

The hardship of the over-65s

In the years 2023-2024, it is estimated that 9 out of 100 over 65-year-olds will suffer from depressive symptoms and perceive their psychological wellbeing as impaired for an average of 17 days per month.

Depressive symptoms are more frequent with advancing age (reaching 13% after the age of 85), in the female population (12% vs. 5% in men), among the socially disadvantaged due to economic difficulties (25% in those who report many economic difficulties vs. 6% of those who do not) or low education (12% among those who have at most a primary school diploma vs. 5% among university graduates), among those who live alone (11%) and among persons diagnosed with chronic diseases (17% in those who report two or more chronic diseases vs. 5% of those who do not).

A fair proportion of people with depressive symptoms (23%) do not ask for help, those who do turn to their family/friends alone in 26% of cases, to a doctor/health professional in 13% and to both, doctors and loved ones, in the majority of cases (37%).

The prevalence of depressive symptoms describes a significantly decreasing trend from 2016 to 2024, in all age groups, even among those with a higher prevalence (from 13.2% to 7.3% among 65-74-year-olds, from 18.3% to 9.7% among 75-84-year-olds and even among the over85s from 22.3% to 12.5%).

Demand for care is growing

According to a survey conducted by the Iss between 2021 and 2023 on 19 Mental Health Departments (DSM), the demand for treatment is constantly growing, with an increase in admissions to hospital psychiatric wards, and the demand for psychiatric consultations in emergency rooms is also growing. And there is also a self-harm alarm: cases of self-harming gestures intercepted in emergency rooms have grown, indicating a growing need for timely and targeted interventions.

In contrast to this increase, the Iss records a slight decrease in the number of psychiatrists, social workers and psychiatric rehabilitation therapists, with a slight increase in psychologists and health social workers, and a reduction in telemedicine: services provided remotely have drastically decreased, with a prevalent return to in-person services.

"The data show a complex but useful snapshot to understand the future challenges," comments the ISS team, "and in particular, compared to 2020, there is an increase in the demand for hospital care. Despite some changes in the composition and type of personnel, the critical issue represented by the overall human resources remains, which calls for a commitment to strengthen the supply more in line with the standards indicated, to meet and respond to the new (and old) needs of the population with, or susceptible to developing, mental disorders."

Nutrition disorders, updated map of centres

In support of the central actions, the Ministry of Health has entrusted the Iss with the mapping of treatment centres and associations dedicated to Nutrition and Eating Disorders. As of September 2025, the mapping of territorial services dedicated to Nutrition and Eating Disorders counts 225 facilities throughout the country: 54 associations and 171 treatment centres, of which 137 belonging to the National Health Service and 34 to private accredited contracted ones. As regards the territorial distribution of treatment centres, 83 centres are in the North, 36 in Central Italy and 52 in the South and Islands.

There are 171 service managers/referents and 2,019 declared professionals who make up the work teams; the professionals are specially trained (82%) and up-to-date (79%) and 75% are structured.

The centres are structured to take charge of the age groups 18-25 years (95 per cent), 13-17 years (89 per cent), 26-35 years (84 per cent), 36-45 years (81 per cent), over 45 years (74 per cent); 51 per cent also take charge of the 7-12 years age group and 21 per cent of those 6 years or less.

The interventions offered by the treatment centres consist of psychotherapeutic intervention in 98% of cases; psycho-educational intervention in 98%; monitoring of physical and nutritional condition in 97%; pharmacotherapeutic intervention in 96%; habilitative/rehabilitative intervention in 66%; recreational/occupational activities in 53%; hospital/domiciliary school in 32%.

Regarding the territorial distribution of the associations registered on the platform, 35 are in the North, 11 in the Centre and 8 in the South