The Wife of the President, Elizabeta Gjorgievska, attended and addressed today the ceremonial opening of the Center for Mental Health and Psycho-Social Support in the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia.
The Center’s key priorities are development of programs aimed at educating the general public, destigmatizing mental health and strengthening community resilience.
Referring to the complex conditions caused by the energy and economic crisis, as well as the consequences caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Gjorgievska said in her address that stress, fear and anxiety impair mental health, which necessitates the need for comfort, compassion, solidarity and professional support.
“Sharing one’s plight with a trained person, who understands the problems and the condition, can actually be of crucial importance in overcoming personal crises and preventing the development of more serious conditions. We are all more or less vulnerable or fragile, especially in critical situations, and we cannot function as separate islands, without sharing and without communicating with each other”, Gjorgievska said.
The Wife of the President emphasized the need for institutional, but also individual contribution to the de-stigmatization of all our fellow citizens who need psycho-social support.
“As a medical worker, I can testify that in many cases with severe health conditions, with severe rare diseases, in addition to classical medical therapy, the need for psychological support is essential. Undoubtedly, mental readiness for a positive outcome in the treatment of life-threatening diseases is also not insignificant. Mental health disorders are indeed a basis for development of various diseases”, Gjorgievska said.
Within the framework of the Center, advisory support and peer education on the importance of mental health will be provided, and training educations will be organized for all interested institutions – stakeholders in the state’s crisis management.
In the past period, the Wife of the President, Gjorgievska, supported the initiative for opening of this Center, and also volunteered at the psycho-social help lines for people from vulnerable categories, organized by the Red Cross of the Republic of North Macedonia.
