How do you get free consultations for depression in Romania? 3 ways to book an appointment without paying
Depression is one of those conditions that many people only talk about once they have reached the end of their strength. Most of the time, putting it off has a very simple reason: consultations are too expensive, hard to access or complicated to arrange.
That is how many people end up postponing for another month. Then another one. Then the postponing turns into years.
But when these states keep coming back, deepen or start to change the way you sleep, work, talk to people and live your life, it is worth looking for clarity.
Below you will find several ways in which you can receive free specialist help for depression in Romania:
This is the quietest and most dangerous form of depression. It gives no obvious sign that it is part of your life. It lets you carry on, but it empties you from the inside until you become a ghost of your former self. Even you might be living with it right now, mistaking it for "adult life".
Method 1: The referral note through the National Health Insurance House (CNAS)
If you are an employee, a student or medically insured in Romania, you have the legal right to psychiatric consultations and psychotherapy sessions covered by the health insurance system.
How it works: first you go to your family doctor and ask for a referral note to Psychiatry. With this note you can make an appointment with any psychiatrist who has a contract with the Health Insurance House (either in state hospitals or in private clinics covered by the system).
The consultation with the psychiatrist is 100% free of charge and, if the doctor considers it necessary, they can further recommend a package of covered psychotherapy sessions.
The main drawback comes down to bureaucracy, the long waiting lists, which can stretch over months, and the limited number of covered places that clinics receive each month from the Health Insurance House.
Even so, it is a route worth trying and one that has become quite popular, especially among young people.
Method 2: The free consultation at our institute (no referral note needed)
If you do not want to wait, one of the fastest options in Romania is our institute. Here you can start with a completely free initial phone consultation, with no need for a referral note from your family doctor. You choose the appointment that fits your own schedule.
Our institute is a pioneer of Neurofeedback in Romania, known for using the most advanced Brain Mapping system in Europe – a qEEG scan that analyses over 80,000 data points from 47 brain areas in only 14 minutes.
Unlike psychiatric tests based on interviews, this method shows you exactly, in clear data, which brain networks are working out of balance and causing the depression, and how you can treat it precisely at its source, with recommendations personalised to the uniqueness of your brain.
To date, over 20,000 patients with depression, anxiety, ADHD, burnout, insomnia and other neuropsychological difficulties have turned to our methods.
In order to support those who need clarity, the institute's team offers a first consultation with their specialists free of charge.
All you have to do is fill in this short form in just a few minutes.
Its purpose is to help the team of specialists better understand what you are going through, what symptoms you have and what your history is, before the free phone consultation takes place.
What is more, if you later decide to follow their brain training (Brain training) in order to treat the cause of the depression at its source, the first two sessions are free of charge as well.
Method 3: Corporate subscriptions and reimbursement through the company
Another option that many Romanians overlook may be right there at their workplace.
In recent years, more and more large and mid-sized companies have started to include mental health in their employee benefit packages: private medical subscriptions, psychiatric consultations, counselling sessions, wellbeing programmes or EAP services, that is, an Employee Assistance Program.
If you are an employee, it is worth checking with the Human Resources department exactly what your benefits package includes. Sometimes private medical subscriptions can include access to psychiatry, clinical psychology, counselling or specific assessments.
At other times, the company may separately offer a number of covered counselling sessions, a wellbeing platform or a flexible budget you can use for health services.
If you are an entrepreneur or you own a company, things can also be looked at from the reimbursement angle. Private medical subscriptions and voluntary health insurance for employees have a specific tax treatment and can be classified, under certain conditions, within the limit of the RON equivalent of 400 euros per year for each employee, according to the ANAF materials on the amendments to the Fiscal Code.
Other expenses for employee health may fall, depending on the case, under social expenses, deductible within a limit of up to 5% applied to staff salary costs.
Do not put off the moment when you ask for help
When you are going through depression, the hardest step is often the first one: admitting that you need help and finding out where you can go from there.
The good news is that in Romania there are several ways to start free of charge, whether through the state system, through your workplace benefits or through an initial consultation at our institute.
What matters is choosing one option and starting somewhere. If the states you are living with affect your sleep, energy, focus, work, relationships or the way you feel in your own life, you need clarity as early as possible.
Want to find out more?
Book a free 15-minute phone call now with one of our specialists to see which assessment or therapy suits your situation.
The call comes with no obligations and is purely informative, so we can help you make the best decision for your physical and mental health.
