TOndrea has a daily schedule: wake up at 8, shower, breakfast, then bend over her books. Too bad you never respect him. Martina was always at the top of the class, praised by the teachers, pampered by her parents. Everyone – especially her – expected university to be downhill. But no. Martina got stuck, the delay piled up. Simone did everything in the right time. But one step away from the end, he stopped: perhaps that wasn’t the right option for him. The discomfort of young adults is evident: «Students get stuck at every stage of their university journey: take-off, cruise and even landing” says Marco Di Lorenzopsychologist and psychotherapist of Minotaur who dedicated the recently published essay to them Young adults in crisis (FrancoAngeli).
But while the psychological distress of adolescents has been in the spotlight for a while, at least since the Covid period, there is much less talk about that of their older brothers. Yet they are going through a a very delicate phase, the one in which they should define their own identity and life plans: this too can be scary.
Too many dropouts, few graduates
Italy has a university dropout rate of 7.1 percent (2022/23 data from the Ministry of University and Research, refers to those who do not complete the 1st year of studies), down compared to 21/22 when it was 8.2 but up compared to pre-Covid , when it was around 6. It also has a low number of graduates: in 2021 (Istat data) 30-34 year olds with tertiary qualifications (degree, doctorate, ITS diploma) are 26.8 percent, compared to an EU average of 41.6. If we then consider a broader range, that of 25-64 years, the percentage of graduates drops to 20 percent, compared to an EU average of 33.4 and in France and Spain, which reach 40.7. Merciless numbers, which should push for a change of pace. «When a teenager fails twice the world becomes active, for a fragile university student no one» is Di Lorenzo’s bitter comment. “Psychological distress should be intercepted before it explodes.”
A young adult in crisis. Getty Images
In the discomfort of young adults there is fear of the future
The reasons for the crisis are many: disorientation, loneliness, cult of performance and inadequacy if expected results are not achieved, difficulty accepting defeats, sense of guilt towards parents. Or, on the contrary, an even unconscious desire to want to punish them because they are too pressing, fear of having to choose, or of having to say to oneself “I will be this and not that”, with the risk that opportunities will be missed. «There is no correlation between school and university performance» adds Di Lorenzo. «It doesn’t mean that someone who did well in high school should excel in university. Many of those who drop out spend the day telling themselves that they have to study. But they can’t».
What to do? «We need to urge them to ask for help, because a specific solution is needed, there isn’t one for everyone” continues Di Lorenzo. «For example: does the Gap Year, i.e. a year of stopping, serve to reconnect the threads or, on the contrary, do we risk losing sight of the objective? There is no pre-packaged answer.”
Parents replace their children
The malaise is growing and there is awareness in universities: in Bologna, where the psychological help service for students started in the 1980s, «now we have enormous growth, with more than a thousand requests a year out of 90 thousand members» says Federico Condello, student delegate. «We offer an ad personam therapeutic path. We treat everything – many ask us for help with anxiety disorders – except addictions and psychiatric needs.”
In Milan Bicocca they follow around 600 students per year, with cycles of 4-8 meetings, and this year there was a good 30 percent more than pre-Covid. Professor Cristina Riva Crugnola, professor of Dynamic Psychology and head of the counseling service, also sees a plurality of situations: «There are kids who don’t want to graduate because they are afraid of facing an increasingly uncertain future. Others stop for fear of failure, they can’t accept it. Others still struggle to create friendships, those outside the office feel alone.”
At the emerging adulthoodhow this phase of life is scientifically defined, the professor dedicated a book that will be in bookstores in mid-March: Becoming young adults (Raffaello Cortina): «This is a turning point, because after school you have to reset everything and start again, it happens that you can get disoriented» he says. «We help to understand what the real objective is, perhaps with other paths». The University of Milan Bicocca was among the first to dedicate an Open Day to parents, where, he explains, «we see them taking the place of their children. Supporting is good, but not if it hinders the path towards autonomy. Furthermore, when mum and dad, and especially for those away from home, insist on “come on, hurry up”, they create further anxiety and end up being counterproductive”.
Guidance helps prevent distress among young adults
Faced with an increasingly pressing request for help for psychological well-being, the Ministry of University and Research has allocated 70 million euros for one year to support 16 projects: «They are evaluating them, the money hasn’t arrived yet» intervenes Angela Costabile, professor of Developmental Psychology at the University of Calabria and representative of the network of psychological counseling services of universities at the Crui (Conference of Rectors of Italian Universities). The network was born after Covid, and today around sixty universities refer to it.
«However, the funds are temporary, so they will be used more for research than at the counters. For the latter, where we now have months-long waiting lists, the aid established by ordinary funds is more useful. Another funding, this time ongoing, is the ministerial one on a Pnrr basis which concerns orientation». In fact, in addition to psychological support, universities today implement a series of interventions, from study help, to tutoring, to ongoing orientation. «We are very present in schools» continues Costabile. «At the end of the three-year period, one million high school students will have had direct contact with universities on a timely basis. There are orientation errors, which is why it is very important to prevent them.”
Everything is right, underlines Riva Crugnola, but it cannot be enough: «There is a gap in services between child neuropsychiatry and that for older adults. Who cares about the mental health of young adults? This responsibility cannot be delegated to us.”
Concrete help with students
Costabile adds another piece in the puzzle of discomfort among young adults: «Among the difficulties in imagining one’s future, one of the reasons is the fear of the effects of climate change, which for young people – less so for adults – is the first emergency. This anxiety on the one hand pushes them to want to change the situation, directing them towards specific studies; on the other, it leads them to resignation and therefore to giving up.”
In the end, we must not forget «the correlation between the starting socioeconomic condition and the university» recalls Condello. The malaise is also nourished by concrete, daily difficulties which can lead to the abandonment of studies.«A third of our students are tuition exempt, that is, with an ISEE of less than 27 thousand euros. There is a great need for student housing at controlled prices, but little is being done. Young people should be supported by investing in their future.” © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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