«Mental health is accessible to everyone» – about the participation of first-year psychologists in an event from the All-Ukrainian mental health program «How are you?» at the initiative of Olena Zelenska
Last week, the Department of Psychology held a number of events on the occasion of World Mental Health Day, teachers independently organized interesting events for applicants and joined students in many useful events from colleagues from various organizations related to the provision of psychological assistance in our difficult times.
So, first-year students of the specialty 053 «Psychology» (groups CH-113, CH-123) together with their curator Anastasiia Garmash attended the online event «Mental Health is Available to Everyone», held by the Zaporizhzhia Regional Universal Scientific Library together with the Municipal Non-profit Enterprise «Regional Clinical Institution for the Provision of Psychiatric Assistance» of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Council within the framework of the All-Ukrainian mental health program «How Are You?» at the initiative of Olena Zelenska, in cooperation with the Coordination Center of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine / Mental Health UA and the NGO «Bezbar’yernist».
The main goal of the event was to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and promote its accessibility for all citizens. The speakers of the event – practical psychologist Daria Boyko and clinical psychologist Olha Lotsman – shared their knowledge and experience in the field of mental health during a lecture and discussion.
The participants learned about the main causes and symptoms of mental disorders, as well as methods of their prevention and treatment; received useful advice on leading a healthy lifestyle, developing psychological resilience and the ability to overcome stress. In addition, issues related to supporting people suffering from mental disorders were considered.
Attending the event «Mental Health is Accessible to All» was an important step for first-year psychologists in forming a conscious attitude towards mental health and developing self-defense and self-support skills.
The first-year students shared their own impressions and noted the usefulness, practicality, and relevance of the information received, and also noted the need for similar events in the future.
«I learned a lot of new information, which is very necessary both in war conditions and after it. I especially liked the exercise «Pebble», which helps to calm yourself and find harmony within yourself and around you,» says Tamila Gutnik (student of group CH-113).
«It was very useful for me to participate in this conference. I received useful information on how to take care of my mental health, how to improve my psychological state in a stressful situation, I learned exercises that help overcome stress and panic attacks; learned a lot of interesting information about uncontrollable attacks of aggression,» notes Tetyana Kovalchuk (student of group CH-113).
«I learned about the impact on our health (both mental and physical) of the problems we faced (the coronavirus pandemic and the full-scale invasion). We discussed ways to recognize mental problems and ways to solve them. We were also told how to take care of our mental health in order to avoid the corresponding problems,» shared Artem Sopin (student of group CH-123).
Anastasiia Fokina (student of group CH-123) noted that «I learned that each of us needs psychological help to one degree or another, and we should not be shy about contacting specialists who are truly ready to help in order to overcome a condition that can negatively affect us; realized that the war that is currently ongoing in Ukraine will affect each of us, and primarily the military.”
Participation in the event was carried out within the framework of the implementation and implementation of the project of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine «Psychosocial support and psychological assistance at all levels of education».
