Psychological assistance sessions – how to get FREE

If your nerves are naughty

Mental health advice is available for patients with depression, certain stress-related disorder diagnoses, neurotic spectrum disorders and eating disorders, the NHS says.

Last year, more than three thousand patients took advantage of the opportunity to receive consultations with a psychologist, Baiba Berzina, a representative of the National Health Service, told reporters. The program budget is half a million euros.

Details of the program can be found on the NHA home page – vmnvd.gov.lv, in the section mental health (Mental Health).

There is also a list of specialists who provide these consultations – in various cities and regions of Latvia.

How to sign up for consultations

You should start with your family doctor, who should assess the patient’s condition. A referral for consultation can also be given by a psychiatrist (for children – a child psychiatrist) following assessing the patient’s complaints.

When making a referral, the doctor will determine the required duration of therapy – up to 10 visits, paid for by the state. It is worth considering: specialists can provide consultations remotely using one of the Internet platforms.

Helping “difficult” teenagers

To ensure that adolescents with mental and behavioral disorders can receive timely help in cases of depression and suicidal risk, there is a special program paid for by the state.

Within its framework, adolescents aged 11 to 18 years with mood disorders (mild to moderate depressive and anxiety disorders, as well as moderate to moderate self-harm and risk of suicide) are provided with:

* initial consultation, during which an assessment of the state of health is carried out, the scope of services required in the future and the specialists involved (for example, a psychologist, psychiatrist, family doctor, etc.) are determined;

* based on the results of this initial examination, an individual treatment program is drawn up (for example, visits to a clinical psychologist or consultations with a child and adolescent psychotherapist, individual or group consultations for the parents of a teenager);

* at the end of the program, a re-assessment of the health status is carried out, and recommendations are given for the further process of treatment or rehabilitation.

The duration of the full state-funded program is 3 months.