Mental Health: Role of the individual for their well-being in the pandemic

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This article was exclusively written for The European Sting by Ms. Beatriz Rodrigues Cândido, a 21 year old student studying medicine at UERN in
Mossoró, Brazil. She is affiliated to the International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA), cordial partner of The Sting. The opinions expressed in this piece belong strictly to the writer and do not necessarily reflect IFMSA’s view on the topic, nor The European Sting’s one.

According to WHO data, Brazil is the country that occupies the largest number of anxiety cases in the world (9.3%), while the United States of America has 5.6% of cases. Emotional problems such as anxiety and stress are potentially harmful to mental health and can lead to depression and affect the immune system. In the current context of the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2, leading to the isolation of the population, the concern with the mental health of individuals becomes even more worrying.

The radical change in routine in people’s lives is one of the worst weather conditions resulting from the pandemic. Knowing how to deal with work tasks and manage activities through online platforms with reduced ease caused by human contact has been a challenge for many. For that, one of the alternatives has been resilience. After all, as studies point out (SILVA et al., 2016) resilience is related to greater personal fulfillment and less emotional exhaustion.

One of the aggravations to the mental health of the population in the current scenario, is related to the guilt that many feel in the middle of a freer agenda, for failing to maintain a high rate of productivity. This fact is related both to the sudden change in people’s routine, requiring adaptation to the new daily life to feel motivated to produce, and to the social pressure that a person’s value is often correlated with their own. social position, which can only be achieved through an endless productive capacity. As studies show, the work system today is based on the idea of ​​excellence, effectiveness and total quality (MATTOS et al, 2015) and the productivity relationship is directly linked to the feeling of emotional well-being (RUCHA, 2011).

Finally, in order to acquire increased mental health, one must seek to develop adaptation and resilience. With the development of these two skills, you can both adapt to the new routine and learn to be productive in it.

References

Silva SM, Borges E, Abreu M, Queirós C, Baptista PCP, Felli VEA. Relação entre resiliência e burnout: promoção da saúde mental e ocupacional dos enfermeiros. Rev Port Enferm Saúde Mental. 2016;(16):41-8.

Organização Mundial de Saúde-OMS. Depression and other common mental disorders: global health estimates[Internet]. Geneva: WHO; 2017[cited 2017 Nov 04]. Available from: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254610/1/WHO-MSD-MER-2017.2-eng.pdf

Mattos, C. B. M., & Schlindwein, V. L. Dal C. (2015). Excelência e produtividade: novos imperativos de gestão no serviço público. Revista Psicologia & Sociedade, 27(2), 322-331.

Rucha, S., & Vasco, A. B. (2011). Necessidade psicológica de produtividade/lazer: 77 Relação com bem-estar e distress psicológico (Dissertação de mestrado). Retirado de http://hdl.handle.net/10451/4991

About the author

Beatriz Rodrigues Cândido is 21 years old and is studying medicine at UERN in
Mossoró. She is the local president of IFMSA BRAZIL UERN and also founded an
extension project by name ECAH (Teaching Children Aspects of Hygiene) in which
one of the axes worked is mental hygiene, which aims to promote the reduction of
anxiety and increase mental health in children. children through recreational activities.
For Beatriz, many diseases have emotional roots, which is why the promotion of mental
health is so necessary.