The Covid-19 pandemic also has a serious impact on people's mental health, whether or not they have had the coronavirus infection. According to psychiatrists, severe depressive disorders have increased by 25% since the beginning of the pandemic, and every second person has trouble sleeping.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more and more people in Bulgaria have been seeking psychological and psychiatric help, experts say.

"I think the stigma is no longer what it was 10-15 years ago. People are increasingly looking for the help of a psychiatrist or a psychologist. A lot of people who haven't even had the coronavirus come with anxiety, depressive or mixed disorders. The other big group - almost every other person in the pandemic – has sleeping issues. Sleep disorders are very common. The restrictions themselves, the pandemic leads to this. People who have suffered from Covid-19 develop very severe panic crises, heart problems, lung problems, there is no way for it not to affect the psyche ", Dr. Katya Edreva from the State Psychiatric Hospital in Lovech says.

According to her, the pandemic has not helped increase severe psychiatric illnesses, and depressive disorders and psychoses are treatable if we seek help from a specialist.

Psychologist Kalina Yordanova commented that the pandemic has had a negative impact on the mental health of children in Bulgaria. The restriction of social contacts and of the opportunities to play in a larger social circle aggravate some symptoms or unlock them:

"Many children come with disturbed sleep, with nightmares, with nocturnal enuresis, with fantasies that ghosts go into the room and then it turns out that it is all about unspoken losses in the family. This is happening against the backdrop of the pandemic because it triggers the question of loss".

According to psychologists, it is extremely important to talk to children on all topics, but you need to find the right form and language for this conversation.

English version Rositsa Petkova

Photo: Plamen Hristov