The Basrah University / College of Medicine organizes a scientific symposium on mental disorders and the Corona pandemic

The Basrah University / College of Medicine organized a scientific symposium on mental disorders and the Corona pandemic. This is the first psychological symposium in the academic year 2020-2021. The symposium was attended by the Faculty members and doctors, as well as guests including the assistant of Basrah police chief and the official in charge of the drugs department in Basrah police headquarters. The symposium aims to increase community awareness about psychological self-care during quarantine through the social media. The symposium recommended the necessity of building the capacities of the working members in the epidemiological units on how to provide psychological support to patients infected by Corona virus and in primary health care centers on early detection of mental disorders as a result of phobias from the Corona pandemic, providing psychological and social support and referring them to specialized psychological services, in addition to focus the awareness programs about mental disorders during and after the quarantine and how to prevent and treat them.The  psychological and social support must be provided to the addicted groups in the Corona pandemic, because they are at high risk for the infection. The Media should have a favorable role in preventing the Corona epidemic because exaggeration or underestimation on this issue has a negative impact. Awareness must be raised among parents through seminars on how to deal with children's anxiety during the Corona pandemic.