OUR Nicky Mavrakis, psychologist in Center for Diagnostics, Evaluation, Counseling and Support in Chania, a few days ago she received a phone call meant for her. On the other line was a young man who is preparing for the state exams. Without a psychologist at his school, he considered calling the applicant support line to to share the anxiety caused by his parents’ pressure to succeed.

“This period is especially stressful for many children who are taking national exams. In fact, several cases “hide” behind them problems that parents either did not realize or do not know how to deal with them, as a result the situation becomes unmanageable several timesshe says “K”.

“When a student calls you, it means that he feels that the situation is getting out of his control,” says Marina Patronu, psychologist at KEDASY Kastoria, pointing out that parents and teachers can also call the support line. “It is especially important that they also have psychological support, since it is during this period that they should act as a support for the child, as well as properly motivate him to try.”

However, in addition to the intense experiences of the last days before the start of the Panhellenic Examinations, there are students who experience stress for a long time, which leads to physical symptoms. This happened to a student Grevenaas stated head of the local KEDASA Anna Korellawho referred the teenager to a competent child psychologist at the center.

Support mechanism in the midst of a pandemic

KEDASY was created during the pandemic for the purpose of interdisciplinary assessment and advisory support to students. They are decentralized public services of the Ministry of Education and are subordinate to the regional departments of education. Their services are provided to people aged 4 to 22, whether they attend school or not.

OUR Eugenia Tragaki, psychologist at 1st KEDASY 1st Athensnotes that most of the students who call psychologists today are the same students who called two years ago. “They called us then because they were worried about their academic performance due to pandemic restrictions, today they call us because this stress “passed” to the Greek courtsshe says, emphasizing that the line worked exemplary during the period of self-isolation and distance learning.

“Most of the students then called us to share their fears as well as find support for the isolation they felt,” says Ms Corella. “Today we have students who come to us for help in organizing their studies and want us to give them advice on how to be more productive. On the other hand, some parents are concerned about the behavior of their children, as there is a lot of tension and sometimes extreme behavior in young people,” she adds, appreciating that many of these problems are related to the isolation in which children are placed in period of the coronavirus outbreak.

Yes, quite a lot schoolchildren and parents who applied to KEDASA in the midst of a pandemic continue to support the centers each region. “These students do not talk on the phone after so many years, but visit the center and have sessions with one of the five psychologists who work here,” says Grevenon, head of KEDASY.

Eternal need

Ms. Tragaki, for her part, emphasizes that the action should be promoted more both by regions and schools, so that students know that in difficult times they can turn to a psychologist who works in KEDASY in their area. “If I met a child at school and saw that something was bothering him, I suggested that he call me or a colleague and we could talk. We can all advise students these days on how to manage their time, how to believe in their potential and not give up,” she concludes, indicating that her wish is to have more organized leadership from the state in the coming years. in the psychological support of candidates in particular, but also of all students of each level in general.