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The astonishing news came out Saturday 20th March, at around 22:30, when the closer friends of the guy received this totally unexpected SMS: “hey pals, I’m staying home tonight: I’m not in the mood for going out. If you want, we get wasted tomorrow night”. These are the harsh words from the 21 years old guy from Genoa, who is currently locked in his room since several days, rejecting any kind of contact with the external world. According to his lawyer, he asked for the “no comment” right.
In the spring of 2013, Italy was experiencing a period of deep economical and political instability. In the meantime, mass of journalists from all over the world flocked Emilia Romagna to report something that didn’t happen since five hundred years ago: in Bologna a youngster didn’t go out on Saturday night.
Here we are, this is the house.
The widespread clamor has been revealed with a disapproval of 40.000 ‘dislike’ on the picture of the guy’s SMS that was posted on Facebook. The terrible event took by surprise his relatives, who still under shock by what happened, have received temporary accommodations where they could recover from this trauma. In the meantime his closer friends, who have been recently dismissed out of the clinic for mental illness, are asking themselves questions, are looking for answers and they cannot find words to explain what happened.
Ehm...we were in Piazza Verdi, waiting for him since fifteen minutes. After half an hour we started worrying about him and in that moment I received the SMS.
We spent together all the afternoon, we were in my home. Of course We didn’t study, we didn’t study I swear. We solved a jigsaw puzzle this big, a thousand and five hundred pieces. He looked/seemed happy, cheerful. I would have never expected to get that SMS from him.
We...we sat next to each other during the class.
Uhm...we talked about the usual things…
as we used to do every day.
He... didn’t look sad or displeased with something…
in fact… he looked happy.
Can we do anything for him?
Come on, don’t do that. This things can happen.
Daniel
His toy
Daniel
But guys...
He likes it, trust me.
Daniel, come on, Daniel!
Do you like it?
We are still wondering whether the young fella really decided not to go out or if he just refused to spend another Saturday night with the same friends, to enjoy it alone or with other friends.
The close friends of the guy seem to not accept the previous hypothesis, due to their “cross my heart and hope to die”, which they took in their childhood. This promise stated that they would have never split up for any reason. However, the specialists are more inclined towards another hypothesis, they think the guy broke on purpose this oath, and that he went out without notifying his faithful friends.
With the permission of the public authorities it was possible to inspect the videotapes from the security cameras of the building next to his house. These videos show astonishing events.
From the depth of the night appears a familiar shadow. Its jubilant movements deeply impress the specialists, they judge it as the typical attitude of who is expecting a joyful future event.
Through statements of his family and friends, it has been possible to discover the clubs in which the lad/youngster used to hang out the most. Here the personnel provided key details for the development of the investigations on that springy saturday night.
Well, he comes always here on saturday night, for pre-drinking...but last Saturday actually I didn’t see him. However I noticed a really weird guy, he was walking around the bar wearing a hood, It looked like he didn’t want to be noticed.
Excuse me! Did you see a 21 year old guy here last Saturday?
Well, I don’t know who are you talking about, I meet always a lot of people here, it’s impossible to remember all of them. Saturday? Saturday...No! I mean, it was a normal night, nothing special happened. Listen...I tell you once again, I don’t remember, I haven’t seen anything weird. I’m sorry but I can’t help you.
The Intelligence is assessing the conjecture of him creating an alter ego, in order to not be recognized in public; but the proven clues are still not leading to relevant outcomes.
In the meantime one of the most prestigious equip of psychiatrists is studying the case, to understand if his behavior can spread, leading to an epidemic contagion.
Social isolation, low self-confidence, the lack of interest for the activities diffusely recognized as pleasant activities, can be considered symptoms of a depressive disorder..illness that commonly starts manifesting between the age of 20 and 30. This disorder, if not treated with a psychiatric therapy, can evolute dramatically, with manifestation of insomnia, feelings of personal inadequacy, guilt and persecution complexes, up to heavy psychosis...and suicide!
Civil Defense declared a 48 hours state of quarantine to prevent the spread of what was defined as “Saturday Night Fever”