Doctors of the World Greek Delegation through its interventions during the years of both the financial and refugee crisis in Greece has been identifying the gaps and limitations of the existing mental system in Greece. The increased need for provision of mental health and psychosocial support services especially for the most vulnerable who face multiple barriers to accessing the national health system as well as for capacity building and raising aware-ness activities led to the implementation of the project “Open Minds: promoting Mental health and Well-being in the Community”.

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Open Minds Report Eng      Open Minds Report GR

Until recently, mental health issues were not seen as a distinct sector/cluster in humanitarian emergencies response. Mental health services and considerations were covered under the wider healthlabeled umbrella; they weren’t seen as a cross-cutting issue either. Some health projects, included metal health activities and rational mainly as a context-related element, i.e. according to need, gap and demand.

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FactSheet GR        Factsheet ENG

With most health conditions it could be expected that, regardless of what country or culture the person affected was living in, the experience of illness would be very similar and that there would be common agreement, for instance, about who was experiencing measles and who was suffering from asthma.
But what if an individual said they could hear the voices of their dead ancestors or reported that they had been temporarily abducted by aliens? Would they be considered ‘mad’ or believed? The answer to that question might depend on whether they lived in Europe, Africa or America.

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FactSheet GR        Factsheet ENG

The logic of institutionalization is well-established in Greece and further consolidated by the conditions of the economic crisis and the memoranda, the dramatic reduction of qualified human resources and the underfunding of mental health services, the complete dissolution of any social state.
But it wasn’t born of them. Institutional psychiatry, as it itself was transferred from psychiatric clinics to general hospitals, was also the pre-crisis model, with much more staff and funding. The issue is the dominant psychiatric culture and practice.

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FactSheet GR        Factsheet ENG

Greece has suffered a severe economic crisis since late 2009, due to nearly a decade of chronic overspending and structural rigidities. The severe impact of the current financial crisis in Greece that has led to extreme austerity measures and cuts in the public expenditure for mental health system while at the same time there is an enormous increase of demand for services. This, in conjunction with the mass influx of refugees and migrants in Greece over the past two years has contributed to further discrimination of the most vulnerable groups, such as destitute Greeks, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, Roma, and LGBTQI communities.

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Open Minds GR    Open Minds ENG