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OCTOBER, 2022    •

WORLD MENTAL HEALTH DAY Story tellers Former Yugoslavia region

MONTENEGRO NORTH MACEDONIA

SERBIA BOSNIA&HERZEGOVINA

CROATIA SLOVENIA

Mental Health "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.'' World Health Organization

Mental health and physical health are the two components of health, they are integrally connected and interconnected to the general health of a person. For example, depression increases the risk for many physical health problems, such as diabetes and heart disease. Chronic diseases can increase the risk of mental illness. Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, social and physical well-being. The level of motivation, general well-being and a number of other psychological conditions depend on our mental health. With proper mental health care we move towards making conscious and healthy choices for ourselves. Mental health is important at every stage of life, starting from childhood until the third and fourth stages of human life. Just as our physical health is not constant, so is our mental health. A very important part is changeability, mental health is constantly exposed to changes.

The mental state in which a person finds himself depends on many factors, on many daily periods and circumstances. If someone is dealing with difficulties at work, college, has a sick person in the family, is going through an economic crisis, is worried about his future and many other situations, there is a high probability that that person has impaired mental health. Mental health can be disturbed by a variety of life experiences such as experienced trauma, violence, hereditary factors, addictions. Terms that are often used interchangeably are poor mental health and mental illness, these terms are different and have different connotations. A person can have impaired, poor mental health and not have a pathological diagnosis of mental illness. Also, a person who at some point is diagnosed with a certain mental illness can experience periods of well-being. Every person in certain unfavorable circumstances can come to impaired mental health and impaired mental state, the well-known labels towards people with impaired mental health as aggressive, withdrawn, shy and attacking are myths, namely no person is defined on the basis of the condition not theirs health, as well as people with mental illnesses that are much more than the current mental state.

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Mental Health & Former Yugoslavia region

Mental health is a taboo topic in the Balkan region, in order to understand the way mental health is treated in the former SFR countries, it is necessary to know the history and past of the people from these areas. The Balkan wars, communism and the post-communist development of each country play a big factor on the mental well-being of the people of the region. In addition to the traumas of the wars, financial and administrative challenges contribute as an additional factor that impairs mental health (Tomov, 2001). A number of studies indicate that posttraumatic stress disorder and depressive disorder are widespread in the region. In Serbia, as many as 48% of respondents described themselves as having a poor mental health status, and 4.9% were diagnosed with chronic depression (Sandrić-Milčević, 2016). In Croatia, research shows that women are exposed to an increased risk of impaired mental health after the collapse of socialism. A study conducted on refugees who survived the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that 30% were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and 28% with depressive disorder, while the most frequently cited answer was "bombarding" (even 70% of respondents).

The states in the region are poor in state bodies dedicated to mental health, prevention and treatment.. Croatia started deinstitutionalizing mental health centers as early as 1990. North Macedonia experienced deinstitutionalization with the official establishment of a national mental health policy in 2005. Montenegro has the highest per capita consumption of the entire Balkans, while Kosovo has no national health insurance fund and access to mental illness treatment is limited. Research shows that 50% of the inhabitants of Kosovo, 42% of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 22% of Serbia and Montenegro paid informally out of pocket for care. Poor care for mental illness and mental health can be improved by responsible governing bodies, funding health systems to be free, not reduced to additional out-of-pocket payments for better treatment. Improving perceptions of mental health requires interactive efforts by both the general population and mental health professionals, the first step should be to inform the general population about mental health, its impact and important role. Just as history binds the countries of the former Yugoslavia, so steps towards mental health awareness can link them, through cooperation between the nations of the former Yugoslavia can improve mental health perceptions and care.

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Svijet se zaista zna srušiti, dođe trenutak kada pomislimo da je kraj. Događaj koji je u tom trenutku toliko nestvaran, toliko snažan da nas vrati deset koraka unazad. Ovaj događaj ponovio mi se nekoliko puta u životu. Prvi put kada sam izgubio svu snagu bio je trenutak kada sam čuo riječi: ,,Razvodimo se, tata će od sutra živjeti negdje drugo.”. U tom trenutku ostao sam bez daha, moje tijelo poplavila je bol, a moje misli su postale prazne. Trenutak šoka i nevjerice, ipak sam ljudsko biće koje je u mogućnosti da osjeti emociju. Sebe sam prije ovo trenutka smatrao snažnim i sposobnim, nakog toga sam izgubio povjerenje u sebe. Ispostavilo se da je ovo bila samo uvertira mog adolescentnog života. Privikavši se na život razvedenih roditelja, život je opet imao smisla. Međutim dogodilo se nešto što je na mene ostavilo trajne posljedice, sada još bolnije riječi presle su preko usana moga oca: ,,Nemoj da se brineš, tata je jak, pobijedit će on”. Šta je to što je morao da pobijedi, bio sam zbunjen. Kao da nisam vjerovao u ono šta sam čuo. U tom trenutku sam se osvjestio, njegove riječi su dobile smisao, otac mi ima rak. Narednih pet godina bile su mučne. Otac, dvije sestre i ja bili smo primorani da se zajedno borimo sa životom, životom koji je sada postao znatno drugačiji. Niko nije bio spreman, a budućnost još nije pokazala sve. Propustom medicinskog osoblja moj otac je ostao paraplegičar. Ponovo nevjerovatne vijesti, svaki put su boljele još jače. Šta je ovo značilo, da li se bliži kraj, ko će se nositi sa svim ovim, ova pitanja su ostavljena meni da pronađem odgovor. Kao dječak od 14 godina nisam imao puno mogućnosti, dobijao sam pomoć od ostalih članova porodice, ali sam se osjećao sam. Uskoro smo ostali otac i ja, makar mi se tako činilo, morao sam da se brinem o svim njegovim potrebama, osjećao sam se da nema kraja. Ovaj period bio je veoma težak za oboje. On, čovjek od 43 godine, ostao je sam sa dijagnozom, skoro neizlječiva bolest koja je sada postala nesavladiva. Iznevjeren od njemu najbližih, kao i medicinskog sistema, ostao je sam da uzgaja mržnju ka svijetu. Postao je mrzovoljan, bijesan i ogorčen. Sa druge strane tu sam bio ja, zbunjen u potpunosti. Potreba da vodim računa o sopstvenom ocu ponekad je postajala zamagljena frustracijama. U tom periodu nisam bio svjestan, nisam prihvatao realnost onakvu kakva je. Oduzeto mi je pravo na normalan život, ovakva razmišljanja su mi svakodnevno rušila razum. Nakon mnogo bolnih dana za obojicu, postali smo najbolji prijatelji, zajedno uvučeni u propast života i neizbježnu smrt koja se njemu bližila mnogo brže nego meni. Neuslovna ljubav je ipak ostala čista, iskrena osjećanja koja smo osjećali jedno prema drugom poslužila su nam da istrajemo. Međutim sa obzirom na situaciju, život je pred mene uskoro stavio još jednu prepreku.

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,,Idemo za Beograd, tata je preminuo” su riječi koje su mi ponovo srušile svijet. Sada sam ostao sam sa mnoštvo lažnih sažaljenja, lažnih očevih prijatelja koji nisu postojali prethodnih godina. Kako da se nosim sa svim tim? Uslijedila je apsolutna propast, mnogobrojni dani provedeni u krevetu postali su godine. Godine samoće sa svojim mislima, sada sam ostao bez ikakvog smisla. Jedina istina koju sam imao, nestala je. Nisam imao volju za životom, razmišljao sam i da ga okončam. Sada nakon 5 godina od kobnog dana, odlučio sam da progovorim svoju istinu, spreman sam na promjenu. Shvatio sam da je život u stvari samo jedna neprestana borba, nered kome moramo dati smisao. Moramo biti spremni da padnemo ali isto tako moramo pomoći sebi. Potraži pomoć!

" Shvatio sam da je život u stvari samo jedna neprestana borba, nered kome moramo dati smisao." -T.A. - Montenegro

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