Milan, February 2 – Yesterday evening, February 5, at 6:30 PM, the Rizzoli bookstore in Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II hosted the presentation of the book “The Fragile Male” by psychiatrists and psychotherapists Emi Bondi and Carla Emilia Ramacciotti, published by Mondadori (144 pages, 18 euros). The event was attended by Chiara Bidoli, a journalist from Corriere della Sera.
Understanding ‘The Fragile Male’
The book, subtitled “Why are the new generations so vulnerable?”, is an essay on a generation of men who have lost their emotional and identity references in an era that has shifted the axis from collective values to exasperated individualism.
“Fragile males,” explains Emi Bondi, director of the Mental Health Department of Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, “experience an insecurity of role as men, which becomes disorientation, difficulty in commitment and taking on responsibilities, aggression, maladjustment, leading to addictions and psychiatric pathologies. Males are more prone, compared to females, to suicide and drug use, aggression and violence. They struggle to adapt to the demands of society.”
The NEET Phenomenon and Lack of Role Models
Among the causes of male fragility, there is the lack of adult role models. “There are no,” the psychiatrist continues, “adult models, like the authoritarian father of the past who gave rules. Today, fathers themselves are disoriented, and Internet models are never realistic. This is why young people struggle to find a role, to face life, they gather in groups or gangs, develop pathologies or withdraw socially.”
Bondi highlights the alarming statistic of “NEETs” (not in education, employment or training), with 1.5 million young people in Italy, aged between 14 and 28, who are paralyzed or blocked, not working and not studying, thus unable to plan their future.
The Challenge of Expressing Emotions
Today’s men also struggle to express feelings and ask for help. “We need to change the paradigm at a social level,” Bondi explains, “to consider the education of children as fundamental, they must be followed with affection and closeness; to create a new grammar of knowledge, to accustom to empathy, to knowing how to be with others. Because expressing kindness, unlike arrogance, does not mean being weak, but a man.”
About the Authors
Emi Bondi, in 2022, became the first woman to be elected president of the SIP, the Italian Society of Psychiatry. She is one of the founding members and co-president of the National Coordination of SPDCs, the hospital psychiatric units. She has also been a member, since 2023, of the technical table on mental health of the Ministry of Health. Alongside her intense clinical activity, she carries out research work, with numerous scientific publications to her credit, and important training work.
Carla Emilia Ramacciotti, a psychiatrist and cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal psychotherapist, also specialized in endocrinology and clinical pharmacology, was a lecturer and researcher at the University of Pisa, where she coordinated the clinical study and research group on eating disorders. Author of numerous scientific publications, she participates in conferences as a speaker, also carrying out dissemination work.
Source: https://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_febbraio_01/milano-il-maschio-fragile-raccontato-dalla-psichiatra-emi-bondi-disorientati-da-modelli-diffusi-su-internet-ma-non-realistici-0fa5d993-c386-4a1e-ae06-b3a8ee861xlk.shtml
