It is curious, even ironic, that it was a virus that put mental health on the agenda. The Covid-19 pandemic imposed the lockdown that for many imposed a drastic change in habits, making us deprived of the freedom that we gradually learned to appreciate. From one day to the next, the reality of everyday life changed. Change is inevitable, as we know, but the ability to reinvent ourselves and adapt to situations, finding ways to grow and evolve, is a personal choice. It is a difficult choice if we are not mentally strong. Hence, it is essential to take care of mental health, since true health only exists when body and mind function in a healthy and harmonious way.
According to the World Health Organization, there is no official definition of the term. However, the organization defines it as a “state of well-being in which the individual is aware of his abilities, can cope with the usual stress of day-to-day life, works productively, and is capable of contributing to the community where he lives”.
What is a fact is that the current pandemic has created and worsened the social determinants of various diseases. And mental illnesses have been at the centre of attention of many specialists, who are concerned with the increasing number of cases of anxiety, depression and problems related to alcohol and drug addiction, advocating a concerted and very well-articulated action between General and Family Medicine, Psychiatry and Psychology, in addition to the coordination with multiple sectors of society, social security, education, economics, justice, housing, transport, and culture.
The Chairman of the Portuguese Medical Association, Miguel Guimarães, recently stated in an interview that “the biggest problem we have at the moment in the health area has to do with non-covid patients”, warning about the reality of the lack of resources in hospitals, namely the shortage of doctors, nurses, psychologists and operational assistants.
Like other services and specialties, Mental Health was also forced to reorganize itself with contingency plans, in order to ensure the availability of essential health care.
In the opinion of Miguel Guimarães, "mental health is going to be the great pandemic of this century", considering that "it should have been taken care of a long time ago through increased investment in the national mental health plan". This message is also this year’s motto of World Mental Health Day, calling for increased investment in Mental Health.
This is a serious warning to us. Mental illness doesn't just happen to others. The pandemic brought not only lockdown (a violent chapter for many in this story written every day), but also physical distance, a new dynamic of interpersonal relationships, new working models, fear of infection, the economic crisis and, mainly, the uncertainty about the future. This uncertainty, in itself, has taken root in our daily lives, causing the stress and anxiety that has affected, to a lesser or greater extent, our mental health.
Teleworking was the solution that many companies found to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus and, at the same time, manage to keep jobs, avoiding ceasing activity. But is teleworking the new fanaticism? The discussion was launched by Psychiatrist Pedro Afonso, Assistant Professor at FMUL, in an opinion piece in which he warns of the “risks that teleworking, carried out on an exclusive basis, may cause damage to mental health”, arguing that human dignity cannot be trampled underfoot in the name of modern labour”. According to the Professor, teleworking should not be imposed, referring to “social isolation and individualism at work, the disappearance of the boundaries between work and family life and to the disconnection from the company's culture” as the main disadvantages of teleworking, a topic that deserves, in his opinion, a more serious and comprehensive public debate.
In the same article published in Observador, the Professor also referred to a key point, showing that "it is not society that grants human rights, because they belong to people as something unique and non-negotiable".
SIC Notícias published the conclusion of the report on the impacts of the pandemic on the mental health of the Portuguese ("Socioeconomic Crisis, Poverty and Inequalities During and After the Pandemic"). The document was released by the Association of Psychologists on World Mental Health Day, celebrated on 10 October, and “points to negative impacts, such as decreased well-being and increased stress and mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, caused by the socioeconomic crisis”.
Some news and studies, much disseminated by the media without solid evidence or the scientific basis necessary for rigorous validation of their content have added to this anxiety. An example of this is Professor Joaquim Ferreira's analysis of a scientific report on the neurological effects of covid-19 (advancing that memory and language may be compromised as a result of the disease) which has not yet been reviewed by peers, by "other scientists who know the subject".
Prudence and common sense are fundamental in communicating a pandemic and the fact that particles of the new coronavirus material have been found in the brain does not in itself attest the existence of irreversible brain damage resulting from the SARS CoV-2 infection, explained Joaquim Ferreira in an interview to SIC Notícias, highlighting that the brain's involvement in the “equation” of the pandemic is nothing new, since the loss of smell, reported by some patients, was immediately a clue to possible neurological sequelae of covid-19. “People are scared of being sick”, said the Professor, drawing attention to the fact that some of the neurological symptoms associated with covid-19 (“headaches, memory loss, behavioural changes, drowsiness”) may be “ motivated by the anxiety of having a disease that has all this impact and not by the brain injury itself”.
The medical and scientific community has been studying the virus and the disease over the past few months and Joaquim Ferreira takes stock of the knowledge acquired over the past 9 months. “We know a lot about the acute phase of the disease, that is, we know a lot about the weeks after the infection. We don't know anything strictly about the risk of what will happen in 6 months, 1 year or 1 and a half years”.
When change enters our lives without asking permission, we can sometimes feel overwhelmed by panic and fear, which take the place of discernment and joy in our lives. At such times, asking for help is the first step. It is imperative to stop suffering in silence to start recovery, immersing in a process, often painful, but essential to make well-being and full health return to our lives.
Sofia Tavares
Editorial Team