A new telepsychiatry service, called ‘SOLITAIRE’, has recently been launched by Verona Hospital, under the leadership of Professor Mirella Ruggeri. The main objective is to combat social isolation in young adults between the ages of 18 and 45, particularly among those who fall into the category of the so-called ‘Hikikomori’, people who withdraw from social life, preferring isolation and estrangement from the community.
Through online psychotherapy combined with cognitive rehabilitation programmes, the SOLITAIRE project offers isolated young people the opportunity to improve their emotional and social skills, helping them to reintegrate into society. The programme, which is completely free of charge, also offers psycho-educational support for family members, who are invited to participate. Those interested in receiving support can contact the team (also in English) by phone at (+39) 0458124038 or by email at marcella.bellani@univr.it or mariagloria.rossetti@univr.it.
The clinical objective of the study is to test the feasibility and effectiveness of integrated telepsychiatry, combining Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and computerised cognitive rehabilitation (Cognitive Remediation, CR). The expected results are improvements in cognitive function and social, interpersonal and work-related functioning. It is hypothesised that the mix of CBT and CR may produce more lasting and generalisable effects than CBT alone, promoting symptomatic change and generalisation of learned skills.
