Our country records a sad negative “record” in Europe, specifically in forced (involuntary) hospitalizations by prosecutor’s order of children and adults in psychiatric clinics.
A recent study on involuntary hospitalizations showed that in the two major urban centers of the country, that is, in Attica and Thessaloniki, the percentages of people confined by public prosecutor’s order in psychiatric clinics are twice compared to the European average, which is around 23 %.
Specifically, in Greece out of all hospitalizations, involuntary hospitalizations are recorded at 57% in Attica, 53% in Thessaloniki and 45% in Patras.
This was proven by the study prepared by the Society for Regional Development and Mental Health (EPAPSY) in collaboration with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (APTH) and the Democritus University of Thrace (DPTH).
A similar increase is found in children and adolescents, according to a second study carried out as part of a diploma thesis of the EKPA.
As it turned out, within four years and with emphasis during the pandemic, a dramatic increase was recorded in cases related to involuntary hospitalization of minors.
The figures were made public last week by the Deputy Minister of Health, responsible for mental health issues, Dimitris Vartzopoulos, in response in Parliament to SYRIZA MPs who tabled a question about problems in the hospitalization of mentally ill children in Greece.
The data proved that indeed, from 2018 to 2022, the Juvenile Prosecutor’s Office of Athens handled a multitude of such incidents. Specifically, 459 adolescent cases, in 254 of which hospitalization was deemed necessary.
During the stressful period of the lockdowns and the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the same data, and specifically between 2019 and 2021, the Prosecutor’s Office handled 322 juvenile cases, while 168 of them (36.4%) resulted in involuntary hospitalizations.
Fewer than half of the cases, however, that the authorities were called upon to manage actually required hospitalization.
Vartzopoulos: The public mental health system is fragmented
Commenting on the above findings on iatropedia.gr, the Deputy Minister of Health and Professor of Psychiatry, Dimitris Vartzopoulos, argues that all these are “symptoms” of a fragmented public mental health system that cannot meet the needs of citizens, but also a consequence of the weakness of of a Greek family to respond to the very great needs of a mentally ill person:
“Prosecution orders have indeed increased, because on the one hand the real needs have definitely increased, but on the other hand you can also see the inability of the Greek family to keep these incidents to themselves, obviously because both parents are working. In short, we see that the ability of the Greek family to absorb difficult incidents has decreased”, he emphasizes.
Another important element, however, that emerged from the above studies is that a large percentage of the teenagers for whom involuntary hospitalization was decided, were hospitalized in adult units, due to the reduced number of psychiatric structures for children and adults.
The Deputy Minister of Health admits that in our country the hospitalization of children and adolescents presents significant deficiencies:
“The child psychiatric structures in our country are minimal compared to central Europe. We have big shortages due to the economic situation of the country”, he specifically states.
However, he also points out that very often the hospitalization of adolescents over the age of 16 in adult clinics is imperative due to the children’s physical development.
“The age of 16+ is in many cases the age that, for objective reasons, requires hospitalization in adult stores, precisely because the psychopathology they have cannot be treated within the framework of a child psychiatric clinic”, explains the deputy minister.
Involuntary hospitalizations: Fewer where there are developed social care systems
The large percentages of involuntary hospitalizations in Greece are essentially “a symptom of a system that is sick, as there is no social system of mental health care”, point out the scientists who prepared the study of adults.
The study by EPAPSY, APTH and DPTH in particular, recorded that in areas of the country with developed social care systems, the rates of involuntary hospitalizations drop steeply.
Close to the average of European countries (23%), for example, involuntary hospitalizations in Ioannina (28%), but also in Alexandroupoli (24%).
“Because in Ioannina and Alexandroupoli there are developed social care systems. That is, people in need are monitored by specialists, there are mobile units and therefore they are not alone and forced to move involuntarily when they are now in crisis,” said Ms. Eugenia Georgaka, associate professor in the Psychology department of AUTH and representative of EPAPSY.
Psychiatric Reform: The bill is being introduced this week
With the Psychiatric Reform Bill expected to be tabled in Parliament this week for public consultation and to be voted on after Easter, the Department of Health aims to bring order to the hitherto chaotic landscape of Mental Health, as the Deputy Minister himself claims.
“The psychiatric reform will unite all the country’s psychiatric services in a Single Network of Social Services, so that there is a better handling of cases”, states Mr. Dimitris Vartzopoulos specifically and adds:
“In this way, the need for forced hospitalization will be reduced precisely because there will be early detection and therefore, prevention of deterioration, which will reduce these needs”
It is worth noting that this bill has already caused serious reactions from the workers in the public mental health structures, since as they say, the merger will bring about a reduction in services and therefore a “discount” of the care offered to the sufferer.
Deputy Minister Mr. Dimitris Vartzopoulos, however, argues the opposite. In other words, how will there be a significant quantitative and qualitative strengthening of mental health structures.
“The quantitative increase through the bill will improve the quality of service delivery. The increase in the quantitative availability of services has started with the well-known initiatives of the government to recruit 10,000 doctors and nurses, many of which will be directed to mental health”, he concludes.
By Gianna Soulaki/Source: Iatropedia.gr
Tags: Dramatic increase forced hospitalizations minors psychiatric clinics years
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