20 March,2009 09:32 AM IST | | Agencies
In a real-life replay of the hit TV series The Sopranos, dons and their relatives are breaking the Mafia's code of silence to discuss their problems on the psychiatrist's couch.
A study by Palermo University found clinical anxiety in 20 per cent of Mafia relatives and personality disorders in 17 per cent.
Psychiatric problems are rising steadily as the monolithic culture of Mafia society crumbles, said psychologist Girolamo Lo Verso.
"They're like fundamentalists, but as soon as something happens that brings the security wall down, they have crises.
That's why they go and see a psychiatrist and many say that they feel a lot better for speaking to someone about their problems."
Dr Lo Verso said food disorders, anxiety, depression, sexual problems and a sense of inadequacy and shame
at failing to live up to macho stereotypes were the most common problems encountered.
Dr Lo Verso's research, The Psychology of Organised Crime in the Mezzogiorno, studied the cases of 81 patients linked to Italy's three main Mafia organisations.
