Due to various stressful situations caused by socio-economic difficulties, the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) increasingly reach for the so-called ”happy pills”. The COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have left a very unfavorable impact on the mental health of citizens, which awakens old but also new fears in people.
According to the data of the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of BiH, the value of imported and produced antidepressants and tranquilizers last year was about 22.6 million BAM, which is about 14 percent more than in 2017. Psychological problems are still a taboo topic in our society. However, recovery is possible if help is sought in time, says psychiatrist specialist Mirela Arnautovic-Tahirovic.
”It would be best if they ask for help when they start to feel bad, with the appearance of tension, nervousness, insomnia, anxiety, the feeling that they have no air, that they are suffocating. If they feel that they are no longer functional as they were. If we are specifically talking about depression and anxiety, it is a lowered mood that lasts longer than two weeks and there is no particular improvement in mood, that nothing can motivate them, relax them, ease them up,” Arnautovic-Tahirovic explained.
A frivolous understanding of the problem and the suppression of feelings and the fear of judgment are what force citizens to self-initiatively reach for medicines that they should not take without the recommendation of a professional. Such behavior can only create additional disturbances and lead to a worsening of the clinical picture.
Ilhana Dolovic-Hadzajlija, Master of Pharmacy, explains that we should not take antidepressants and tranquilizers on our owninitiative, because in that case, they can lead to addiction. If mild or moderate disorders are identified, as a supplement to the diet, natural-based sedatives are recommended, which, although they have no negative consequences, should be taken according to the advice of a professional.
”It is necessary to draw people’s attention to such medicines, that is, nutritional supplements, on how to use them, what is the dose, so that the medicine is not underdosed, because then it has no effect. Then they say, it didn’t help me. It didn’t help because they didn’t take it adequately,” Dolovic-Hadzajlija noted.
