/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/6SYQEYHP2JFX5H3BTZTREQIIMU.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "“It is important to transmit knowledge about mental health care in times of pandemic”")
In times where quarantine is felt in the psyche of people, and more so today that 72 days of social, preventive and compulsory isolation are completed since its implementation last Friday, March 20, Infobae Joined the INECO Foundation, Facebook, Instagram and with the support of UNICEF in an innovative campaign, #EnCasaconSalud, than implemented creative tools to bring strategies to promote emotional health to the population during this period of social isolation that affects millions of Argentines.
– –
To close this initiative, Infobae summoned Fernando Torrente, graduated in Psychology from the University of Buenos Aires (MN 27,844), academic doctorate in Medicine from the Favaloro University, director of the Institute of Neurosciences and Public Policies of the INECO Foundation and director of the Department of Cognitive Psychotherapy of INECO, to review together with he the most important aspects of the five topics that were covered during the 10 newspaper articles that were part of the campaign.
– –
During the talk, the five aspects developed were: general recommendations for the population on isolation and mental health; the families; young people and adolescents; families with children and telework and risk groups and vulnerable people.
– –
-How was the #EnCasaconSalud campaign born?
– –
-This initiative #EnCasaconSalud It began as a concern of these organizations to contribute in these difficult times that we are all going through in the care of our mental health and the emotional care of people and the Argentine population. It is a campaign with Facebook, Instagram, INECO Foundation, Infobae and with the support of UNICEF, which replicates a campaign carried out in other Latin American countries by some of these organizations, we thought it might be convenient for our case. It is not only the quarantine, the pandemic situation, it is an aggravating circumstance, which is complex, there is a threat to our health, to our lives, loved ones, which is a disease that can have serious consequences, highly contagious, the which we know little and there are still no drugs to treat it with proven effectiveness, we do not have a vaccine, we are in a general situation of uncertainty to which is added that the measures that exist and are available to try to face this threat also have consequences, side effects. We think that it is important to transmit knowledge about mental health care in times of pandemic.
– –
-In one of the campaign notes, the topic of what we can do to better regulate our emotions in these times was discussed. What can you contribute in this regard?
– –
–It is one of our central themes. If you think about this situation of threat and stress, what you put into play, what you pose to us is a great challenge in terms of how we regulate our emotions. The regulation of emotions is the ability of people to see how we better manage and travel our emotions. The high stress situation that we are experiencing provokes intense, strong, sometimes negative emotions. It produces that there are situations where our spirits rise and fall and in front of all that we need to put into play mechanisms of emotional regulation. There are two or three central ideas that are findings or knowledge that we have about the neuroscience of emotions: We know that it is important to learn to identify and recognize emotions as they are. They are integral forms of response of our organism and of our mind to important situations for our life, if they are there it is because they have a function, a utility and give us valuable information.
– –
-Second, we have to understand that there are no good or bad emotions. We call negative emotions those that are unpleasant, accompanied by feelings of discomfort. But it does not mean that they are bad, useless or harmful, they are unpleasant because they give us information about what is not working well in the world or in our lives. It is important information, not only the positive is good. If we were not afraid, we could not carry out the protective measures that we have to do. If we stay at home, if we wash our hands when appropriate, if we avoid certain risky situations, it is because we are afraid. Therefore the second important message is that emotions are all good even though they are lived with displeasure.
– –
-For this it is important to put names and communicate them, to be able to talk about them. This allows us to recognize them better, regulate them better and share them with other people.They work best when we share them and we can have exchanges, which allow us to feel accompanied, content, understood and allow us to see different points of view.
– –
-We have to learn to change certain points of view. Emotions are usually accompanied by certain more or less rapid ideas, sometimes stereotyped, sometimes more rigid. If we can change some of them we will be able to better carry the emotions. Exchanging with others is one of the very important things we have to do.
– –
-What happens when these emotions become very intense or persistently unpleasant?
– –
-That can lead to certain more complicated situations and there we have to be able to recognize that we can ask for professional help. When anxiety and a state of depression become very persistent and are accompanied by certain signs, it is important to ask for help there..
– –
-Is it normal to feel anguish? Taking into account that we have already exceeded 70 days in our homes.
– –
-Angress is a normal emotion. It is expected that in these situations we have it. It is not only quarantine that causes us anguish, it is the threat, the disease, the fear with loved ones, the elderly, if we are part of a vulnerable group. Quarantine adds certain levels of complexity to levels of distress, which has to do with a strong response to uncertainty, versus what we don’t know and can’t control, and it scares us or puts us at risk. We cannot decide that the threat disappears, that the virus is or is not, whether or not there is a vaccine, but we can decide how to take actions to protect ourselves and therefore that will increase our feeling of tranquility and comfort if we adopt the measures careful what we have to do. The more we stick to these measures, which is not just quarantine yes or quarantine no, it is also how we manage when we leave our homes, if we belong to an essential activity, or if we are part of a risk group, or live in provinces. where they are not in the most important isolation phase, we still have to take care, which requires attention and a lot of emotional stability.
– –
-In the campaign we also develop the theme of family planning and organization. Key aspect to bear these days. What are the most important points?
– –
-Among the recommendations that we propose have to do with a very important factor: our routines, or more or less periodic and organized activities. Routines generally support our spirits, they have a bad side, since sometimes the word is associated with something boring, something that is not the most interesting, but they have a very strong importance in our life. They are sustained by habits and allow us to do many things that are necessary for us. Above all it is known that our routines and our periodic rhythms of activities maintain our state of mind, this is called social rhythms. One of the recommendations has to do with trying within this so-called new normality to organize certain activities on a routine basis to replace the lost routine.
– –
–It is also important to highlight equality between people, the aspects that have to do with communication, to be able to take advantage of spaces of coexistence to share spaces. In family life it is very important and more at this particular moment to make room for these communications.
– –
-How can adolescents and young people help others in these times?
– –
-We have been able to observe and some studies that we have done, in fact a job that we have done from INECO, is that the young population has been strongly affected by this pandemic. Although they are not among the most vulnerable groups, they can be infected equally but the risk of becoming seriously ill or dying is much lower, which means that they do not feel in such a vulnerable group, but They have left many things in their life, things that are very important at that stage of life: sociability, contact with a group of peers, the beginning of certain activities that are beginning and need to grow. These younger groups have been strongly affected by this pandemic and psychological and emotional effects are seen in them.. But at the same time we have found that young people in our country have at least marvelously complied with the measures and have strongly internalized the need to take care of themselves and others.. Despite all the costs they paid they were able to do it. That has to do with altruism, with the ability to understand that a problem does not touch me alone, but it affects a lot of people, that I am part of the solution, if I disagree affects others, and that the young population has understood and it is a very good teaching.
– –
-What strategies to implement to make teleworking or home office with children at home more effective?
– –
-There is a central theme there, something that has changed very strongly in this time of isolation has been how we carry out our work, how we continue our lives in these exceptional situations, where tasks that were previously separated are combined. Everyday life, for most people their work was carried out most of the time outside the home, and the boys were at school, in the garden, with people who took care of them, with division of tasks. This scenario suddenly mixed everything, put everything together in the same place, in the same context, and having to make everything compatible. The message of care is important in this sense: try to separate as much as possible what we can to take better care of ourselves. This is dedicating quality time to each of the tasks or areas of our life, understanding that we probably cannot answer everything the same. For this it is important to lower the levels of demand and understand that working at home or outside it is not the same if we are not used to it, if we do not have a support structure. That requires being able to separate times, manage them and understand that we are not going to be able to do everything the same.
– –
-Talking a bit about the extremes of life, what happens to older adults?
– –
–Elderly people with whom we have a close emotional relationship may be people who are living alone, autonomously, and therefore these isolation measures prevent us from seeing them with the continuity with which we saw them before. Here what is essential is communication with them, despite the isolation, which does not mean lack of communication. The first message is to be present and communicate daily and frequently with them to recognize what their needs are and to know how they feel and carry the situation. We need to help them organize their food, health and financial needs.. There within the family it is necessary to organize how to assist them. On the other hand, the factor of loneliness is very important in older adults. We know from many pre-pandemic studies that loneliness is a feeling strongly associated with depression in older adults and general deterioration in psychological health from the point of view of neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative, and general health issues. Loneliness predicts a series of health problems for older adults that are important to take care of. Communicating with them is a way to prevent them from feeling lonely. Everything we can do in this regard will be useful to avoid loneliness. It is also important to ensure health care, treatments, medications, and to test health over time.
– –
-How does isolation affect vulnerable people and what can be done to help them?
– –
-To them we direct our communication campaign. Those people who already present before the onset of the pandemic and quarantine any condition related to mental health, with any previous difficulties such as anxiety, depression. These are people who can in these situations have some type of greater stress of having a condition again. Either with some kind of relapse or if they get worse. First, they must continue their current treatments, not disconnect from the treatments. Continue with psychological treatment, if they are under medication or continue with medications, take all precautions to continue taking them well, do pharmacological controls and not delay or porter them. Use technological tools such as virtual remote consultations that can help us maintain the continuity of our treatments and the controls we need to avoid relapses.
– –
–Early detection is elementary. It means realizing when we are feeling bad again, experiencing certain symptoms. In this sense, it is important to be alert to these warning signs, if we have been without sleep for several nights, if we begin to feel sadder strongly for several days, if we find it difficult to concentrate on our daily tasks, if we begin to have difficulties in getting up, not being able to get out of bed, low energy, these are all warning signs to watch out for. When they appear, the first thing we should do is seek specialized help.. If we are in treatment, inform the professionals in charge and if we do not contact reference professionals or contact the health coverage we have or seek help from the national mental health system. If we notice signs that things are not going too well, let’s get help quickly.
– –
-The recommendations that have to do with the most extreme and limit situations, when ideas of death or suicidal thoughts appear, the desire not to continue living or the idea of harming oneself to end life. In these cases, the message we must give is that suicide ideas must be taken seriously, warnings are serious warnings and therefore if we start to think this we have to ask for help or if we hear someone who presents these ideas take them serious and do not let them pass, seek help in those circumstances.
– –
-It is also important to understand that suicide ideas can be prevented. This problem can be dealt with effectively in different ways. It is very important to detect them and seek help quickly. Too It is important to these people that there is a solution, that we are going to accompany them. If we are with a person who expresses this type of ideas we have to accompany them, not leave them alone, stay with them, until we have a solution to this problem by experts.
– –
To contact the Suicide Assistance Center, you can do it by phone (dial the 135 or 011 5275-1135) or through social networks (@casbuenosaires on Twitter or CAS Buenos Aires on Facebook).
– –
Facebook, Instagram, the Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO), Infobae and UNICEF joined forces to promote the emotional health of people during this period of social isolation that affects millions of Argentines.
– –
:quality(80)/cdn-kiosk-api.telegraaf.nl/c4915850-a76d-11ea-9a20-0218eaf05005.jpg "Trump takes away nearly 10,000 military personnel from Germany Abroad")