Prilep, 13 February 2022 (MIA) – We’ve been dealing with the Covid pandemic for two years now, and it has left permanent traces on our lives. Many lives were lost, people still live with consequences to their physical and mental health, some of them lifelong. How do we manage psychological trauma? Can people handle it on their own? Or do they need psychological assistance? The Chamber of Psychologists of Macedonia says that they’ve had their hands full since the start of the pandemic, in the first months of lockdown, until today. The need for psychological help remains, both back then and now, several variants later. Psychological help is more than necessary right now. Instead of taking pills to numb the pain, we need to talk, we need a solution to fight this ongoing situation that has no end in sight. During the first days, when the crisis first started, the Chamber organized psychological help and support for Covid positive people, for their families, and those in isolation. During the state of emergency in the country, 30-40 psychologists were available on the phones and online. "We had data state-wide for everyone who feared the illness, those who were positive, those who feared for their loved ones. We kept working online after the state of emergency was declared over, and people kept calling. The regulars who called started complaining of the long-term fear and pressure of true and false information, where they should go, how they should be treated, what will happen if they get infected, what will happen afterwards, their jobs... the fact of the matter is, a person can’t withstand this without consequences to their personality. The counseling places have continued working with full capacity this entire time,” says Dr. Mirjana Jovanovska Stojanovska, president of the Chamber of Psychologists. Unanimously, psychologists agree we need official Covid counseling centers. We’re living a pandemic reality filled with psychological pressure. Official Covid counseling centers and systemic solutions are needed. The country sleeps on the issue. The Chamber’s initiative to help healthcare workers was met with silence. Dr. Jovanovska Stojanovska points out that we need a systemic solution. “We sent emails to the Ministry of Health, offering help for the healthcare workers, help which would be well organized and thought out. No one responded, no one cared. The healthcare workers who call us do it themselves, and we help them. Let me repeat that it shows a lack of organized psychological support for the people in our country, which should be at a state level," the doctor stressed. Our system should be the one organizing it. "We talked about the idea for primary healthcare to instate psychological help, so that way, people who come in with concerns to their physical health can also get help for their mental health,” Jovanovska Stojanovska says. Legal amendments and a firm determination to set up official Covid counseling centers are needed. “Yes, there need to be legal changes, in the strategy for the protection of mental health. The Law on Mental Health is well made, but it only has things to help people with certain illnesses. However, given that we’ve been living under pressure for two years, we all need psychological help. There are stats that a huge number of the population takes prescription tranquilizers, but they need psychological help and therapy. We should do something to aid the people – to offer them expert psychological help," she says. Everyone who worked for the past two years have gained enormous experience with the people and their traumas, and they should officially be made available to the people. "Those who need their physical ailments cured will ask for help, but they need treatment for their psyche too. I will point out that it’s important for it to be organized state-wide, systemically, in all healthcare units so that it’s available to the people. Instead of prescribing tranquilizers, give them a chance to talk for at least 45 minutes with a psychologist so they find coping mechanisms. Tranquilizers will do the job for a few hours, but it won’t solve the problem that the people are living with. Psychological help will help them build coping mechanisms, or help them find some, which will minimize the need for drugs,” Jovanovska Stojanovska says. Psychologist Ana Aleksoska from Prilep says they’ve been facing upsetting stories for two years. In 90% of cases, the counseling centers work on mitigating Covid trauma. Young people have it especially bad. “We’ve got out hands full. Everyone who’s faced Covid in some way, either personally or through a loved one, feels anxiety or depression," she says. The stats speak for themselves, according to her. 10,000 diazepam prescriptions are given out daily. "Those are huge numbers, numbers of people wanting to numb the pain with pills. We live in a small environment, so I think the people should be motivated to go to therapy, not just once, but multiple times so they live a more comfortable life. There are various situations. Basic things such as the need for security, belonging, communication, should be established. We should get back what we lost. That’s why people should ask for help. It’s not a sign of weakness, but of courage. It’s brave to ask for help and to say it’s a struggle to live in this reality. 90% of the cases I work with need help to deal with this situation. The most upsetting stories are from those who ‘brought’ Covid home, causing a loved one to pass away, and they feel overwhelming guilt. They blame themselves. All of these stories are sad to me. There are a lot of young people isolating themselves, they’re depressed and they don’t know what to do with their time. They don’t go online, they don’t feel like going on, they’re apathetic and lack interest. Being so dissatisfied at a young age causes them to reach for alcohol and drugs, and that’s when the situation gets critical, especially for 17–18-year-olds,” Aleksoska says. We’re still living in a Covid reality, but the psychological consequences will be long-lasting. That’s why we should treat our minds as soon as possible, so that the consequences don’t span generations. “Covid counseling centers should be opened as soon as possible, throughout the entire territory of Macedonia. As a Chamber, we can offer help to organize it. It shouldn’t be anything too complicated, there just need to be places where people can go to talk about what’s happening to them, and find ways to cope with the two years that passed and the traces they left,” Dr. Mirjana Jovanovska Stojanovska says. Psychologists offer the shortest and the most healing beginning impulse in treatment “of the soul”: Open up and talk about what’s on your mind. That’s the only way to heal. Elizabeta Mitreska Translator: Dragana Knezhevikj