ZAGREB, March 17, 2020 – As of Tuesday, citizens who are in isolation on suspicion of coronavirus infection may seek psychological help by phone from the mental health department of the Andrija Štampar Teaching Institute for Public Health in Zagreb, and for that purpose eight telephone lines will be available.
Psychological support lines will be available every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mental health professionals can be reached at phone numbers: 01/2991 356, 4696 376, 4696 107, 4696 297, 6468 334, 6468 335, 6468 337 and 6468 338.
Head of mental health department Mirjana Orban underscores that isolation can be a great source of stress for people, as it disrupts their daily life, which can increase the risk of developing a post-traumatic stress disorder.
“It is important that people have someone to talk to and that they can get appropriate professional help, that is, advice on how to spend their time during isolation. Some people already have psychological disorders, and isolation will be very hard for them,” Orban says.
We are in the midst of a health crisis where managing psychological and psychosocial well-being is just as important as managing physical health, experts underscore.
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