The covid-19 pandemic has given way to a mental health crisis that especially affects vulnerable groups, and governments must develop public policies to counter it, experts said during a virtual meeting recently organized by the Inter-American Bank of Development (IDB).
The region will not be able to rebuild without full mental well-being, said neuroscientist Facundo Manes, one of the participants in the panel entitled “Mental Health: The Next Pandemic?”.
“A country’s wealth is in the mental, cognitive, social resources of its citizens. This crisis is a health crisis, but also economic, moral, ideological and all this impacts our behavior at the individual and community level,” he said. argued the honorary president and founder of Ineco Foundation.
Manes cited data indicating that there is a lot of anxiety, distress, mental exhaustion among the population, and that the four most affected groups are young people, women, the elderly and health system workers.
He recalled that mental health could not be separated from physical health and therefore the mental health crisis should be placed at the center of the debate as should the issue of vaccines and vaccines. health measures that must be taken to live with the virus.
“If we don’t talk about it, these symptoms, which are transient for now, can become chronic. And, if they become chronic, it will be another impediment, another obstacle, for the social and economic recovery of our region,” he said. sentenced.
Responsibility of governments
Regarding government responsibility in the face of the mental health crisis caused by the pandemic, psychologist Fernando Torrent said governments need to think about how to respond to the different levels of problems that will be generated.
The professional clarified that there is a global psychological crisis in which there are groups at higher risk of developing specific mental disorders (to those cited by Manes, Torrent added people in a more disadvantaged socioeconomic situation).
We are more overwhelmed and worried and this leads us to experience states of psychological distress and in some cases depressive or anxious symptoms, which is the most prevalent, said Torrent. Many of these symptoms are mild and transient, but in a subgroup there are more intense symptoms and these people meet a number of criteria for disorder or pathology.
“Our response must be graduated as well,” the dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Behavior at Favaloro University in Argentina suggested.
“When we have high levels of discomfort and stress, difficulties in presenting well-being in groups (…) all of this inevitably translates into social,” he warned.
Fear, resilience and empathy
Fear has spread alongside the virus, an emotion that, according to Manes, puts us on the defensive and from which we can only come out with information and cooperation.
“It’s a community disease and the way out is community,” the neuroscientist insisted.
But in situations like the current one, the resilience is also activated in the brain.
“Even if it seems like a lie to us because of the pain we’re going through and the pain and suffering we’re still going to see, a lot of us and a lot of communities are going to come out resilient,” he said.
Many people will develop empathy and learn that collective well-being is more important than their personal status and success.
However, Manes clarifies that this depends not only on the individuals, but also on the use that the authorities give to the problem.
“The authorities have to communicate in a transparent way and give some idea of horizon, of perspective. There are things that we can do and there are things that the authorities can do, that’s why this is communal,” the expert argued.
Parents
Florence López Boo, a leading economist in the IDB’s Division of Social Protection and Health, reviewed several studies during her speech that indicate that people with children have experienced higher levels of stress during the pandemic.
The concerns of these people, Lopez Boo said, have to do primarily with food, housing and health security. Surveys conducted in Latin American countries also showed a huge gap between mothers and fathers: mothers had a higher level of discomfort. This was due, according to López Boo, to the fact that the care of children fell mainly on women.
The increase in reports of violence, mainly psychological, and a greater use of corporal punishment as a form of discipline were other problems detected in the studies.
Seeing these data, López Boo stated that it was necessary to “do more to prevent parental stress”, as caring for children and their well-being is caring for their carers, ensuring their mental health.
KNOW MORE
participants.
Facundo Manes, Fernando Torrent and Florència López Boo discussed the consequences of the pandemic on the emotional well-being of the population, especially in vulnerable groups, during the virtual meeting entitled “Mental health: The next pandemic?”.