Internally displaced persons can receive free mental health care. It is covered by the Health Guarantee Program.
Stress, lack of sleep, negative memories, moving, loss and separation from loved ones, crisis situations due to war affect mental health. All this often accompanies internally displaced persons. Delaying in receiving qualified help worsens mental well-being and directly affects health.
Who to contact regarding mental health?
For questions about mental health, you can first contact your family doctor, therapist or pediatrician for the child, with whom you have concluded a declaration. Currently, almost 12 thousand primary care doctors have been trained under the WHO mhGAP program and provide basic mental health care. These doctors work in institutions that have an agreement with the National Health Service of Ukraine for the package “Support and treatment of adults and children with mental disorders at the primary level of medical care”.
You should also consult a doctor if you have the following symptoms:
– feeling of anxiety, nervousness, tension;
– mood swings: from apathy to excitement;
– memory problems;
– sleep and eating disorders;
– constant irritability, irritability and anger;
– panic attacks, intrusive thoughts;
– acute reaction to stress;
– inability to concentrate;
– auditory or visual hallucinations;
– and others that reduce the quality of life.
Describe your condition to the doctor. The doctor, with the patient's consent, will conduct a screening for mental and behavioral disorders and, if necessary, provide assistance for uncomplicated symptoms. Or, if necessary, refer you to a specialized medical doctor - a psychologist, psychotherapist or psychiatrist.
Patients can also consult a psychiatrist without a referral.
What help can a family doctor provide?
Based on the screening results, your family doctor may prescribe an examination and treatment, which will include:
– referral for laboratory and instrumental studies to diagnose or rule out mental or neurological disorders related to physical health;
– referral to a psychiatrist for diagnostics, diagnosis and treatment recommendations (with the patient's consent);
– psychological first aid – not only for the patient, but also for family members who care for him/her;
– the use of psychosocial (psychoeducation, work with psychosocial stressors, promotion of participation in daily activities, etc.), as well as pharmacological and behavioral interventions.
– drawing up a plan for the management and treatment of a patient with previously identified and established disorders within the competence of a family doctor;
– monitoring of treatment and control over the implementation of the observation and treatment plan;
– providing support for patients with mental or neurological disorders;
– in the absence of positive dynamics in the patient's condition – referral to a psychiatrist, psychologist, psychotherapist, psychophysiologist, narcologist, neurologist (depending on the diagnosis and condition of the patients), interaction with these doctors, etc.
How do I find a medical facility where I can get mental health help?
1. Call the National Health Service of Ukraine contact center at 16-77. Choose to connect with the operator and ask where the nearest institutions with specialists who provide mental health assistance are. Write down the contacts and telephone numbers that the operator will dictate;
2. or find institutions with an agreement with the National Health Insurance Fund yourself using the online map on the dashboard “Providers of medical care in the direction of “Psychological and psychiatric care”, where all providers in this direction are collected. Select the region, settlement, level of medical care (primary, outpatient or inpatient) in the filter field on the left and select the doctor's specialization. The map will show medical institutions with telephone numbers and addresses that match the entered filters. You can go to the dashboard via link.
The Medical Guarantees Program provides all Ukrainians with the same free list and access to medical services, regardless of their status as an internally displaced person. More information about the free medical services that can be obtained under the Medical Guarantees Program can be found in the electronic manual "Guide to the Medical Guarantees Program for Patients 2024". You can download the manual via link.