Social Impact Initiative

Hi there. I am a 22 year old student finishing my Bachelor degree. In my free time I like to read, write, watch movies, hike in the nature and take photos. I also like to spend time with my friends and family, probably just like you. If I had to point out something, that makes me different from most of you, I'd probably mention I am suffering from panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by reoccuring panic attacks, which are periods of intense fear that include somatic symptoms, like shortness of breath, palpitations etc. They lead to different behavioral and cognitive outcomes, such as avoidance of places associated with one of the attacks. In this interview, psychology students from EFPSA's Social Impact Initiative explored how life with this condition is like for me, and if you want to know more, you're most welcome to read it. . How would you (figuratively) describe your mental disorder? I would describe it as a ghost that starts strangling ...

As the theme of this year's Mental Health Awareness Week is stress, we decided to ask  doc. dr Nikola Petrovi ć from Department of Psychology at Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade a few questions about it… 1.         What are some of the most common reasons why people are under stress? Stress is a normal part of life. Everyone has different stress triggers. People usually get stressed about work, family issues, illnesses, deaths, financial issues or big changes in their lives, sometimes even very positive changes like getting married or winning the lottery. 2.         What are the typical thoughts of a person dealing with stress? Everyone reacts differently to stressors, but some people are more resilient than others. That means that some people have very irrational thoughts such as „This is horrible, I can’t handle this!“ that lead to undesired psychological outcomes and worsen the situ...