A retreat for your body, soul and spirit amid the Swiss Alps Interview with Dr Enrico Frigg

Enrico Frigg has been working at the PDGR since 2010 – first as an assistant physician, later as a senior physician at the Outpatient Psychiatric Service in Chur, where he also looked after the patients of the General Psychiatric Day Clinic in Chur. From 2016 – 2023, he worked as a senior physician at the private clinic MENTALVA. In July 2023, he was appointed Chief Physician at MENTALVA.

After studying medicine at the University of Zurich and several years in basic research, Enrico Frigg completed his specialist training in psychiatry and psychotherapy in Zurich, Embrach, Bern and at the PDGR. He completed his psychotherapy training in analytical psychology from 2011 to 2014 at the C.G. Jung Institute in Küsnacht.

Dr Frigg, the private clinic MENTALVA, at the foot of Piz Beverin and in the middle of nature, offers individual, psychiatric treatment with a focus on psychotherapy. What is the concept of the clinic?
Basically, we treat all forms of mental illness apart from conditions that require secure lock-up facilities. Around 70 percent of our patients suffer from affective disorders such as depression, stress, or burnout. Other disorders include tinnitus, a common condition, anxieties, or substantive problems.

Do you also offer pain therapy?
This is mainly about somatoform pain disorders with a missing organic correlate. This is not uncommon, and these forms are often associated with chronic depression. Partially, this manifests itself in chronic pain and migrant pain. In somatic medicine, we refer to this as fibromyalgia.

A specific feature of your facility is the small number of patients.
Exactly, we treat a maximum of 15 to 17 patients at a time. The clinic is very manageable so that a homely atmosphere and a sense of community can be created. This alone can be beneficial to the healing. Humans are community beings, an, in principle, they need the group. Usually, patients stay between seven and eight weeks, which allows a community to develop.

In addition to the classical psychiatric and psychotherapeutic methods and drug therapy, the MENTALVA is also known for complementary treatments.
In psychiatry, a lot takes place in the body, numerous (displaced) feelings are stored in the body: pressure on the chest is a typical symptom. Performance pressure, pain, the urge to move, restlessness can be visible indications. We approach the disorders with various treatment methods. In addition to psychotherapy, this also includes TCM, phytotherapy, yoga, massages, creative therapies, fitness. We also use cold and wet body wraps, where the patient is wrapped in cloths dipped in ice water. The wet and cold stimuli can result in body awareness, which is often only rudimentary in most patients.

What approach do you use in psychiatric treatment?
Here, we approach the disorders also with several methods: drugs, depth psychology, with behavioural therapy, hypnotherapy; we even use animal-assisted therapy with horses or dogs. This is about patients building a relationship with the living being. Animals are very honest in their emotions, unfiltered and open. Moreover, humans cannot blame them for their mistakes.

How do you get to work with your therapies?
The fact is that the patient who comes to us feels terrible. We often hear statements like: "I don't know myself anymore" or "I want to be like I used to be". We work with the patient on how this feeling has developed, which factors have led to this situation. There are general patterns and highly personal motifs, i.e. the general idea of performance and the personal biography. By the way: practically, nobody has an inconspicuous biography, and especially people who become patients.

Does it make sense to return to the "previous form"?
It is not important for us to make people profitable again as soon as possible. As I said, patients often come to us with the wish "I want to work like I used to". But this is often absurd because that is what has brought people to where they are now. More sensible is the phrase: 'I want me to be well again'. In doing so, we need to specify what is to work again. It is essential to put the idea of economics and performance into perspective with the patients. We need to get to know the patient, understand his patterns, the traits of his personality and develop his behaviour. Humans generally don't know themselves very well, and this must be taken into account.

When the patients come to the clinic, they have already taken a big step. How do they react in the therapy?
Many people have the concept in mind: you have to be strong, you have to perform, you mustn't rely on help and not compromise yourself. But this is a total illusion. Without others, we would be lost. There are situations in life that go beyond one's own resources. Why not get support? It is ok to get help.

How do you feel about drug therapies?
Drug therapy is not always necessary, and we do not impose anything on the patient. I believe that approved and effective drugs can be used as support in the recovery process.

What other factors come into play with the therapy?
It is important for us to involve relatives and, if possible, the employer and thus the professional environment, and to prepare well for the reintegration into life and work. Humans are not an encapsulated entity but social beings.

The MENTALVA treatment plan also includes tinnitus and anxiety and panic. Can you explain what these disorders are all about?
In cases of fear and panic, there are specific and generalised fears. Most of the time, these are not standalone fears. Here, we also apply both, traditional and complementary treatments. Tinnitus therapies are all about getting distracted from the ear noise and finding a healthier way to deal with it. We also offer special hearing therapy for patients.