A new tele-psychiatry service to offer support to young people with social isolation. The “SOLITAIRE” telematic project began in the Psychiatry B UOC, directed by Prof. Mirella Ruggeri, which, through individual psychotherapy and cognitive rehabilitation, aims to bring back the “Hikikomori”, young people who isolate themselves and distance themselves from collective life, in sociality.
The project is aimed at young adults, between 18 and 45 years old, who suffer from moderate-severe social isolation and their family members. Psychotherapy delivered in digital format, with an online visit, combined with the rehabilitation of cognitive-social skills, will allow better management of emotions and consequently of social relationships; psychoeducational intervention is provided for family members. Participation is free, just contact the SOLITAIRE team by phone on 045 8124038 or by email by writing to [email protected] o [email protected].
The “SOLITAIRE” project (Social isOLation In youThs And theIR familiEs) provides digital interventions to combat youth isolation and is financed by Mission 6 of the PNRR, in the Valorization and enhancement of biomedical research section of the NHS. It is coordinated by Professor Ruggeri assisted by Professor Marcella Bellani, and the team is completed by Doctor Maria Gloria Rossetti and Doctor Maria Diletta Buio.
The study. The clinical objective is to test the feasibility and preliminary effectiveness of a new tele-psychiatry approach that combines individual psychotherapy and cognitive rehabilitation. Effectiveness is measured in terms of improvement in cognitive functions and social, interpersonal and work functioning of a group of patients subjected to a cycle of remote Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) combined with computerized cognitive training (Cognitive Remediation – CR) and is compared with that of a group of patients undergoing CBT only. The hypothesis investigated is that the synergistic approach of CBT+CR produces more durable and generalizable results compared to the CBT intervention alone in isolated patients. The improvement of cognitive-social skills would in fact favor a symptomatic change and the generalization of the skills learned during therapy to everyday life contexts, improving the overall social functioning of patients. The study sees the AOUI of Verona as the leader and also involves the IRCCS Eugenio Medea of Brindisi, the CNR and the University of Milan. The IRCCS will observe the effectiveness of interventions on adolescents
11 and 17 years old, while the CNR of Milan will use an animal model of social isolation to identify biomarkers which will then be compared with those of the patients. The University of Milan will investigate the differences in the speech produced by patients with social isolation before, during and after therapy.
