Telepsychiatry: The future is already present

This review paper analyzes the state of knowledge on Telepsychiatry (TP) after the crisis caused by COVID and the resulting need to use new modalities of care. Six essential aspects of TP are addressed: patient's and mental health staff satisfaction, diagnostic reliability, effectiveness of TP interventions, cost-effectiveness in terms of opportunity cost (or efficiency), legal aspects inherent to confidentiality and privacy in particular and the attitude of professionals toward TP. Satisfaction with TP is acceptable among both patients and professionals, the latter being the most reluctant. Diagnostic reliability has been demonstrated, but requires further studies to confirm this reliability in different diagnoses and healthcare settings. The efficacy of TP treatments is not inferior to face-to-face care, as has been proven in specific psychotherapies. Finally, it should be noted that the attitude of the psychiatrist is the most decisive element that limits or facilitates the implementation of TP. Copyright © 2022 The Author(s)

Common Sense as a Political Weapon: Populism, Science Skepticism, and Global Crisis-Solving Motivations

This research examines the relationship between populist thinking and global crisis-solving motivations concerning climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. Using data from five European countries (Switzerland, France, Finland, Greece, and Italy), we test a model where crisis-related science skepticism-understood as the defense of commonsense knowledge against scientific expertise-mediates the association between populist thinking and crisis-mitigation attitudes. The results show considerable convergence across national contexts. Relative deprivation predicts endorsement of two core components of populism's thin ideology, people sovereignty and antielitism. These subdimensions of populism are linked to science skepticism, although variably across contexts. Science skepticism then leads to a lower sense of personal responsibility for climate change mitigation and to negative attitudes towards a governmental measure to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings further show that under specific conditions, the populist request for greater democratic participation may mobilize individuals to get involved in crisis mitigation. Overall, our results highlight the role of politicized common sense in motivating and justifying opposition to measures and policies based on scientific expertise. We conclude that science skepticism, rather than populism per se, explains cynical and dismissive attitudes towards global crises.