Universitas Gadjah Mada, through the Psychological Services Unit of the Faculty of Psychology, provides psychosocial support for anyone in need of psychological treatment due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. Head of the unit Edilburga Wulan Saptandari said the counseling service had actively assisted affected individuals, from sufferers, their families, health workers to communities, who were looking for support for their mental well-being since the earliest days of the pandemic.
“We are under the supervision of the UGM COVID-19 Task Force. Anyone seeking treatment and support can contact our call center,” said Edilburga on Sunday (11/7).
According to her, the soaring COVID-19 cases in recent days may affect some people in one way or another. Apart from patients and families, health workers have also reportedly experienced some symptoms related to COVID fatigue and others. In response to this, Universitas Gadjah Mada has prepared a team of psychologists and postgraduate students to help the community cope with pandemic-related stress and psychosocial issues.
“Our health professionals are currently experiencing exhaustion. They are the front-liners, the ones who do the tracing and make calls to families and patients. Some have anxiety or psychosomatic illness,” she explained.
She added that service would include providing patients with psychological first aid (PFA) to calm themselves down, hence relaxed and not panicked. Patients would receive treatments in stages, first by postgraduate students, and later if further measures were required, psychologists-lecturers from the university and partners would help them.
“We have 55 in-house psychologists and will later involve partners when needed,” she said.
Source: https://ugm.ac.id/id/berita/21360-pandemi-berkepanjangan-ugm-siapkan-tim-psikolog
