Impact of pandemic on mental health the focus of Wednesday's live coronavirus briefing

Everyone is under considerable mental stress, said Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias. "All these months of social, financial and work-related pressure, under difficult health circumstances have created a reality testing everyone's limits," he noted.

This is why the government raised health expenditure on mental health and rehabilitation services by 62 pct to 58 million euros, raising total expenditures for health to 2 percent of the budget, in line with World Health Organization guidelines, he added.

Moreover, in response to the psychological peculiarities of the pandemic, Kikilias noted that the health ministry's committee of health experts is now enriched by the addition of psychology Professor Vasileios Bosikas of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

There is no doubt that both the pandemic's outbreak and the ensuing restrictive measures, such as the nationwide lockdown, have changed people's lives quite dramatically, and have also "overturned everything we held to be certain and safe," observed Zoe Rapti, Deputy Health Minister for Mental Health, speaking alongside Kikilias.

Studies carried out in Greece and abroad have shown that at least a third of the general population developed feelings of fear and depression as a result of the persistent pandemic, Rapti stressed.

The deputy minister noted that the telephone helpline 10306 offers professional psychological support 24/7, and has so far received more than 78,000 calls; an 82 pct of these calls pertain to coronavirus-related stress and fear, 70 pct to insecurity about the future in personal and financial terms, and 65 pct related feelings of isolation and fatigue overall.