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Spotlight interview
In Belarus, sensible precaution is available
Line of personal protection How to maintain a sound mind in a sound body during the raging pandemic of coronavirus? What to look for in order not to succumb to panic and despair? How to help yourself and what is the role of awareness in our lives? About this and a little about love to fellow beings — all this is in an interview with Vladislav Ivanovsky, a well-known psychotherapist and narcologist at the Minsk City Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic.
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“The growth of mental illness is a global trend. Belarusians suffer from them not more often and not less often than residents of other countries”, — said Alexander Startsev, director of the Republican Scientific Practical Center for Mental Health, chief consultant psy‑ chiatrist of the Ministry of Health, in one of his interviews. “The only differ‑ ence is that in the West, a personal psy‑ chotherapist is the standard of life, and we are only coming to understand the need for psychological support”. I agree, it is not customary in our society to di‑ agnose one’s emotional experiences. On this occasion, there is even a comic catch phrase applied to the mentality of Bela‑ rusians: “Maybe it should be so?” Nev‑ ertheless, according to statistics, over the past 10–12 years, the increase in vis‑ its to specialists in connection with men‑ tal illness has grown by 14%. However, this is not directly related to the deterio‑
ration of the mental state of Belarusians. Life expectancy and, for example, the number of pensioners with dementia have increased. In addition, many peo‑ ple begin to realize that difficult times are easier to overcome with the support of a qualified specialist. And now, dur‑ ing the period of global stress caused by the coronavirus, it is especially impor‑ tant to monitor your physical and men‑ tal health. How to save it in the era of informa‑ tional intoxication and excessive emo‑ tional stress — we are talking about this with Vladislav Ivanovsky, an experienced psychiatrist-narcologist at the Minsk City Psychiatric Outpatient Clinic, a special‑ ist who has successfully been using many methods in the treatment of mental dis‑ orders for 25 years, i. e. neuro-linguistic programming, hypnosis, Gestalt therapy, bodily-provocative, family and group therapy…
About anxieties and fears — Vladislav, many of my friends, having learned about the new virus pandemic, are seriously panicking. And in general, judging by the news, the reaction of the world community was unexpectedly stormy. Why do you think most people are depressed, hysterical? — In the poem by Nikolay Nekra‑ sov “A little man the size of thumb”, there are such lines: “And stalking along in a dignified manner, and lead‑ ing the horse by the bridle ahead”. This “little man” is a six-year-old child who directs a cart loaded with firewood, walking along a snowy slippery road. One wrong movement of the boy and the cart can slide into the ditch, turn over, and break. That’s why he controls every step, every action, knowing that he will be responsible for the conse‑ quences. Six years old child, and he is беларусь. belarus 2020
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