Let me be active is a mentoring project focused on promoting social inclusion of people with mental diseases by developing a mobile application for Autogenic training and remote mentoring. The project will create a mobile application for Autogenic training and remote mentoring that will help people to test their stress and anxiety level and to perform techniques that will reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and to be actively involved in the local society.

Project activities will be implemented in North West Bulgaria which is the poorest region in Europe.

Conversely, poverty, financial problems and social deprivation are major socioeconomic risk factors for mental health problems and disorders in many the population in North West Bulgaria which is considered the poorest region in Europe. Relatively high frequencies of common mental disorders (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder) are associated with insecurity and hopelessness, poor education, unemployment, indebtedness, social isolation, and poor housing. This makes people with mental disorders even more vulnerable and socially isolated. In addition, the lack of psychological assistance in the region accelerates the problem and the social exclusion of people with mental disorders. Most of them receive little or don’t receive any psychological assistance.

People with mental disorders usually are low-income people and people living near the poverty line. Such vulnerable groups include young people, single-parent families, unemployed people, ethnic minorities, migrants, and older people. The effects of social exclusion include deficits in cognitive, emotional, and physical development, and the consequences on health and well-being are lifelong. As a result, many people from the local society become socially isolated and are not active members in the society.

We are planning to provide a psychological assistance and mentoring by:
Developing a mobile application for daily self-assistance using body psychotherapy method
Providing distant mentoring by establishing of a hot communication line (personal assistance by special private massages in the mobile application) for people with mental disorders from the remote villages and towns
Information campaign among the local population and representatives of small and medium business about the mental disorders (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder)
Round table with local authorities to rase the needs of people with mental disorders

By implementing the planned activities, we will ensure social and economic inclusion of people suffering from mental disorders (anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder) and make them active citizens and members of the local society.
By providing mentoring assistance for people in remote region will ensure equal rights for people and access to psychological assistance.
The project will raise the awareness of the local society about the problems of people with mental disorder and will ensure social tolerance of the vulnerable group and understanding of the problems and barriers that face people with mental disorders.

The principle of empowerment requires empowering participation, not controlled or principally sheltered by the institutions, but sought and promoted from below, from the very society’s strength to organise and to give itself socially owned material and cognitive resources, thus contributing to democracy and active citizenship at local community level.
Active self-assistance and distant mentoring programmes will keep and reintegrate people with mental disorders in local economic and social life and reduce the mental health effects of recessions and will give them opportunity to be equal members of the local community and actively participate in local social life.

Our organization is providing mentoring and education support for improving the social inclusion of people with mental disorders. We want to provide this mentoring techniques for people in remote regions where is luck of psychological experts and to include this vulnerable group in the local community, improve their skills, show then that someone is listening to them, and respect their point of view as well as to raise the awareness of the local community about the problem.

Development of mobile application and communication platform for distant mentoring – 23 000 Euro
Developing of self-assessment tests, autogenic training materials - breathing practices and visualization – 12 000 Euro
Traveling and accommodation of project team –850 Euro
Project management and administrative costs – 2 000 Euro
Information campaigns–8 000 Euro
Brochures – 1 000 Euro
Round table – 700 Euro

Feedback about how to make the project activities more effective.