THEsummer, if for most people it is the season of lightness and sharing, For those who live conditions of psychological or emotional fragility canInstead, transform into a suspended time and difficult to cross. Loneliness, in fact, that during the year it can be attenuated by the routine, daily relationships and work occupations, in this period, however, it inevitably tends to amplify. It is precisely in this scenario that is part of The daily commitment of Telefono Amico Italia, voluntary organization who for years has taken care of those who have no one to talk to. Very concrete commitment, seen The almost 110,000 contacts received in 2024 by people looking for listeningwith an average of more than 300 requests per day.
Phone friend, listening that saves
The association presented last year data and are numbers that impress. In fact, although the telephone calls have decreased by 6%, However, the depth of the needs expressed by the people who turn to the service has grown: longer, dense, intimate conversations. A signal that, according to Cristina Rigon, president of the organization, reflects an important change: “People just try to let off steam – explains – but to build a relationship, even if momentary. They need someone who remains with them, who really listen to ».
Summer, between silences and solitudes
This sense of solitude, worsens with the summer seasononce suspended that can aggravate the discomfort. This was also underlined by Professor Maurizio Pompili, a psychiatrist and professor at the Sapienza of Rome, who warns against the psychological effects of summer solitude. «The slowdown of daily activities, the school or work break and exposure to idealized images of happiness, they can feed the sense of exclusion in those who already feel vulnerable». To this are added physical factors, such as the heat and alteration of the sleep-wake rhythm, which can accentuate states of anxiety or depression. Because of this, Experts advise to maintain a routine, fix small goals, leave the house, do light physical activity or rediscover a hobby. Paradoxically, volunteering can also become a form of autotherapy.
Telephone Amico Italia records 110,000 requests for help in a year and launches the alarm: more listening, more volunteers (Getty Images) are needed.
Young and more and more present: the word passes to chat and email
The report data also show the channels most used by those who contact the service: If the phone remains the most used channel95,000 calls in 2024, contacts via WhatsApp and email are growing strongly: +13% for chat and +17% for emails. This is where the voice of young people is heard more. In messaging, the most active band is between 19 and 35 years; via email, above all respond girls under 25. The recurring themes? Existential discomfort, anxiety, solitude, but also social isolation and relationship difficulties. About 60% of the contacts concern the area of the self, followed by emotional problems (20–28%) and, more marginally, by the sphere of sexuality and marginalization.
When listening becomes a research tool
Telephone Amico Italia does not listen only. In 2025, He started an innovative project with the Ca ‘Foscari University of Venice which provides for analyzing the anonymous data collected through the conversations of help in a statistical and emotional key. The end is ambitious: Check whether the indicators related to emotional well -being can anticipate or explain wider social and economic phenomena. According to Michele Costola, professor and scientific manager of the initiative, these data will offer a single window on the collective mood. «With artificial intelligence techniques and predictive analysis – he explains – We want to understand if social mood can report, in advance, tensions that then emerge in the macro data».
The fundamental commitment of the volunteers who listen (and who can become it)
The help service, it must be said, would not be possible without the commitment of the volunteers: Behind every item that responds to the phone, in fact, there is a volunteer format, available 365 days a year, from 9 to 24. Today there are more than 600, distributed in 20 local centers and in a virtual center designed for young people between 18 and 40 years old: the tag, phone friend Generation. Those who want to enter this network can send an email to [email protected]: we start with a six -month training course, theoretical and practical.
Not only numbers: a concrete presence for those who feel invisible
Telephone Amico Italia is a non -profit, neutral and inclusive reality, which promotes empathic listening as an instrument of emotional health. It is part of the IFOTES international network and guarantees anonymity and respect for all people, regardless of age, gender, I believe or orientation. Who needs can contact the telephone service at 02.2327.2327, write via Whatsapp at 324 011 7252 or fill in The anonymous form On www.telefonoamico.it. Even in the height of summer, even on the days when silence makes more noise.
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