The psychologists in schools and health centres are numerically insufficient for the real necessities with the added complication of the country experiencing a crisis like no other.

In recent weeks, the President of the Ordem dos Psicólogos has informed the media and society of this fact, making it clear that psychologists can make a difference in improving the quality of life of people, growth of companies and significantly lower the costs to the National Health System.

In this Tuesday edition, Diário de Notícias also gave out this information, stating the reduction in the number of psychologists in schools and in health centres and what this means to the people, to the economy and to the country.

Quoting the President of the Ordem dos Psicólogos (OPP), the newspaper reports that the number of psychologists in health and in education should be increased urgently because this is the population that at this time is experiencing an increase in stress, anxiety, depression and excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs, for example.

To the newspaper, Telmo Mourinho Baptista states that the accompaniment done by the psychologists to the population is essential, “due to the strategies and techniques which allow tools to be given to people so they can effectively learn to deal with adversity and the crisis scenario”. The DN also gives the real numbers in terms of psychologists placed and those who should be working to be able to comply with the minimum accompaniment during the time of a crisis.

Read the complete article by Diário de Notícias here.