Being involved in stressful situations, being understood by the majority that suffers the same as you, the system of information and the decrease of prejudices for mental health issues, has increased the number of the cases that seek help to deal with stress, anxiety and fears.

Dr Arjana Rreli

The times that we are living are making us more aware about the importance of health, especially about mental health.

We are all witnesses of this battle with the unexpected, the invincible, the cunning, and in many cases the murderer. As such, nobody of us can avoid the stress headed by the unknown. Our mental, social and occupational equilibriums feel threatened.

The long progress of this pandemic that is reaching its 1st anniversary, it continues to progress to an unknown final in time. Our adapting mechanisms are often in confrontation with the changes of the form and the aggressiveness of the virus, the health consequences, the well-being of daily life and activities.

In such times that Albanians did not regain their calmness yet after the earthquake of December 26 and its consequences, they were forced to face the challenges of Covid-19 as well. In this situation, anxiety, fear and depression are present among the majority of the population and for a long period. The uncertainty for the personal health, the worries for the health of close ones, the effects of the quarantine period, the consequences in the affective relations, the instability of economics and other peculiarities of the pandemic – have increased the number of people that seek mental health aid for the first time in their life.

Including the influence of the virus and its physical and mental consequences, the risk stands at the point that problems become part of our everyday life and that we should get used to coexist with them, while on the other hand this puts us  at risk from chronic stress.

The stigma that historically has delayed the recording of the issues and seeking help, nowadays seems reduced. Being involved in stressful situations, being understood by the majority that suffers the same as you, the system of information and the decrease of prejudices for mental health issues, has increased the number of the cases that seek help to deal with stress, anxiety and fears.

In such occasions, the interventions in mental health consist of the need of a closer cooperation of all the professionals who work with such issues. Their help nowadays is not just necessary, but it is a must. The assistance that nurses and therapists offer, the counseling of the social workers, the emotional support that the psychologists offer and the medicaments that psychiatrists propose – are just some of the instruments that enable community support and effective intervention in the mental health, which nowadays seem to be threatened.

In such times of important and fast changes, new ways of cooperation and organization of capacities are needed, in order to offer the maximum of a therapeutic and rehabilitation aid, to provide its maximum in the positive effects of the mental health of the citizens.

We are all together in this battle, and if the participation and contribution of each of us is maximal, then the battles will be much easier and victory would be closer!

 

Arjana Rreli works as a psychiatrist since 1996 and continues to offer her professional assistance in this field and in community services of mental health in Tirana