Mental Health in Italy During the Pandemic: A Shift from Self-determination to Solidarity?

The State of Exception caused by the pandemic constitutes an indispensable starting point of a redefinition of the relationship between public and private spheres in the perspective of protection of right to mental health. The authors trace the evolution of the right to health, in the international, European and domestic context and deepen the theme of the protection of the right to health of persons with mental illness. The Italian constitutional framework represents a peculiarity since it is characterised by a strong solidarity-based character and a specific attention on the right to health. Its constitutional formulation outlines a twofold role: fundamental right of the human person and interest of the community. The Italian legal system has given primary importance to mental illness, starting with the so-called Basaglia Law. The pandemic emergency has prompted the Italian government to adopt a series of welfare measures that do not always fully protect mental health. For this reason, the authors call for a reorganisation of the national health care system that can enhance the solidaristic principle.