Editorial

Dear Readers,

As you have no doubt noticed, this issue bears a rather unusual title – Psyche.

This is simply because our theme this time is psychiatric illness in the context of speech and language pathology. Just as Psyche, the beautiful royal daughter in Greek mythology came to Olympus and found her place among the gods after many mistakes, trials and tribulations, so has Psychiatry become a respected and indispensable branch of Medicine.

An increasing number of people are in need of psychiatric care, year by year. Whilst psychiatric illnesses are economically and socially as serious a problem as cardiovascular and oncological diseases, our society has long suffered from a shortage of mental health outpatient clinics, with long waiting times and overcrowding in these facilities.

We would like to dedicate this issue to our fellow psychiatrists, psychologists and psychotherapists, as a token of our esteem and high regard. Although people may seldom perceive, until faced with personal experience, how badly these professionals are needed and how few and far between they are, they are absolutely indispensable to our diagnostic and therapeutic work. This is something we as clinicians and speech and language pathologists fully appreciate.

In Ancient Greek, “psyche” is the breath-like soul that accompanies us in life, as well as the butterfly, which rises from the cocoon of its earthly body like the soul after death.

Let us launch into 2024 filled with the hope that our souls will flourish within.

Wishing you this and much joy and happiness in the coming year, on behalf of the entire editorial team of our journal,
Zuzana Lebedová