With the Covid-19 epidemic, many of our lifestyles and priorities have changed. Both the struggle to avoid catching the epidemic and the psychological process experienced when caught have exhausted all humanity. Medicana Samsun Hospital Specialist. Clinical Psychologist Dila Soğancı answered questions about the psychological reflection of the epidemic process.
1- When you consider the people who are psychologically affected by the pandemic and/or come to you thinking they are affected, what is their biggest problem?
Actually, society As humans, we react normally to an abnormal situation. We are going through a process that we have never experienced or known before, and we are gaining experience. Everyone feels anxious, afraid, unhappy, it only matters how much we experience such emotions and to what extent they affect our lives. In the early days of the pandemic, I had clients with anxiety disorders, sleep problems, post-traumatic stress disorder, postpartum depression, depression, panic attacks, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but now virtual game addiction has been added to these pathologies.
2- What kind of effects can people's unemployment and subsequent financial difficulties have on the individual and their family life in this epidemic?
Desperate, hopeless and unhappy individuals have a very difficult time struggling with the feeling of uncertainty of human beings. . Staying in that gray area puts most people in a depressed mood. They feel like their hands are tied. People's problem-solving skills also come into play here, but the situation and conditions in which the person lives are very important.
3- People have to isolate themselves from social life due to restrictions and create a gap between themselves and other people. Does having to build a pandemic wall create a feeling of imprisonment? What kind of effects does this situation have on people in the short/medium and long term?
What is hugging? As a society, we are used to showing our love tactfully. For these reasons, cutting off people's contact made it very difficult for people. The most difficult thing we have during the pandemic period is the feeling of being trapped. As soon as it was said that it was forbidden, sitting at home became overwhelming, whereas the day before there was no ban and the person was still at home. That word is It made him feel stuck. People have become accustomed to living without contact; such actions as hugging, kissing, shaking hands may become rare in our lives after the pandemic. There are also people who are happy because they don't have to shake hands or kiss people. In other words, when it comes to people, it does not say anything clearly. While the lack of contact with fingerprints makes one person very unhappy, another person can say "I would never have liked him anyway."
4-Experiencing the effects of this epidemic. , to see, to get caught up in the situation that is exaggerated by word of mouth among the public, to what kind of a situation does the useful / useless information about the epidemic being put forward in the media every day lead a person to a situation and how does this situation affect the person's self-confidence and ability to socialize?
During the first ban, there was fear, there was a lot of media monitoring, and there were even people who became obsessed with it. Now there is more anger, anxiety, and a sense of abandonment. People are very overwhelmed and there is a majority who do not even look at the number of cases anymore. Self-confidence and socialization skills for children and adolescents have been negatively affected. Nursery, school and events were areas where they could socialize and increase their self-confidence. No matter how much we try to prevent it, most of them are on tablets or computers.
5- As a psychologist, what advice would you give to society and individuals?
There are almost no things we do for ourselves in daily life. Many people live to survive or forget themselves in the pace of the day. It is necessary to create space for ourselves, to acquire hobbies, to walk if conditions are suitable, and to pay attention to sleep and nutrition patterns. They should not avoid getting professional support.
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