In ten years, consumption of psychotropic drugs among children and adolescents has almost tripled: if in 2016 there were 20.6 packs of drugs prescribed for every thousand children, then that number will be 59.3 packs in 2024, or more than doubling in just four years after the pandemic. This is the picture painted by AIFA (Italian Medicines Agency), in OsMed’s latest report on drug use in Italy in 2024. These data are in line with what has been noted for years by scholars and researchers: the worsening mental health of young and very young people, especially after the pandemic.
The report determined that the drugs described, in particular, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and ADHD medications (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), with an increasing trend based on age: the maximum is reached in the 12-17 year age group, where consumption is 129.1 packs per 1000 or 1.17% of the population is affected by certain disorders. According to the report, this is a growing trend in line with the results of other international epidemiological studies, where in general there is an increase in the number of prescriptions for this type of drug in almost all countries in the world – especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. And that the social distancing policies implemented to stem social restrictions have seen an acceleration in the suffering of young people, is now a clear fact, although it is not the only factor causing these difficulties.
Already in 2023, the ISS (Istituto Superiore della Sanità) noted that eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder (which 90% affects girls) have increased by 40% between 2019 and 2021, while the age of onset of these disorders has decreased to 30% of the affected population being under 14 years old. The Ministry of Health itself also said the figure could be very large underestimatedbecause most of the subjects affected by this pathology do not receive treatment. At the same time, a gets worse regarding the situation of young people who, before the pandemic arrived, were already suffering from eating disorders. At Bambin Gesù Children’s Hospital alone, the number of patients treated in the emergency room for eating disorders doubled between 2021 and 2022, while hospitalizations increased by more than 50% (from 180 cases before the pandemic to 300 in 2022). The situation is not improving as time goes by, with eating and eating disorder diagnoses continuing to rise 64% between 2019 and 2025 at Bambin Gesù Hospital alone, with the starting age dropping to 8 years. A role in the worsening of the incidence of disorders of this kind (and the deterioration of the mental health of young people in general) is also played by social mediawhich increases the dynamics of social comparison and obsession with physical exercise.
Furthermore, between 2019 and 2022 the number young generation who isolate themselves and they stop meeting friends outside school, so experts speak of a phenomenon that is now structural in nature and not related to specific socio-economic or geographic conditions. Lockdowns and distance learning have actually accelerated the transition of human interaction to the virtual world, with real consequences for mental health. At the same time, family relationships deteriorate, trust in others decreases, and exposure to cyberbullying increases.
According to UNICEF, the worsening mental health of the younger generation due to social isolation caused by pandemic control policies has been the main cause. never happened before. If adolescent mental stress was already a widespread problem before 2020, and not only in Italy, the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 acted as an accelerator of this dynamic. In 2021, suicide This disease is the main cause of death for young people aged 15 to 19 years in Northern Europe and Central Asia, and ranks second in North America, Western Europe, and West and Central Africa.
The roots of problems of this magnitude lie in the cultural and economic systems that characterize modern society. And if rethinking and deep self-criticism of the current system seems important, then in the near future it will be useful to implement state policies that help alleviate the discomfort of the younger generation. Currently, the system appears to be moving in a very different direction. In the 2025 APBN Law, for example, all funding for nursing homes specializing in eating disorders in the national territory is eliminated. In general, mental health and workforce funding is in short supply in Italy, and Italy ranks last among high-income European countries in terms of spending on psychiatric care.
