Everything is going to be all right. Psychopathology in the time of an epidemic in Italy

The aim of this paper is to describe some human reactions and some elements of psychopathology that occurred during the pan- demic. The pandemic highlighted different aspects of the human soul in doctors, in health workers, in patients, in other people. There are doc- tors, nurses, health workers who work round the clock to treat and assist the sick, and to support those who won’t make it. Ignoring the risk of contagion, fatigue, and their own needs, they have only one priority: to help, to do their duty. Many of them become severely ill, many have died. All are exhausted. They have been called heroes, but not all are heroes. Our psychiatric patients, initially, have reacted appropriately, in a judicious, sensible and responsible way. They expressed a lot of awareness and humanity. In contrast, other people, those who normally fee “on top of things” get into a panic. This pandemic has made us realize that our lives are fragile, that all the things on which we base our sense of security are actually precarious and uncertain.