Addressing Mental Health In A Pandemic
By Alfiani Nurlina
It is an understatement that the novel coronavirus pandemic hasn’t been easy on anyone, it completely changes the way we were living. At present, everyone is focusing on the prevention of COVID-19 infection, preparing and discussing issues related to physical health consequences. It is important to understand that everyone is going to face the negative mental health consequences of the pandemic not only the life-threatening negative physical health consequences.
In response to the problems posed by the pandemic, various public health strategies such as isolation of infected or at-risk persons, reduction of social contact, and simple hygiene like frequent hand wash, have been advised to reduce the risk of infection. Although isolation helps in achieving the goal of reducing infections, reduced access to family, friends, and other social support systems causes loneliness increasing mental issues like anxiety, depression, and panic disorder. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused severe threats to the mental health of people around the globe.
United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres urged governments, civil society, and health authorities on to urgently address mental health needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic, and warning that psychological suffering is increasing. National data from populations around the world would appear to confirm this increased mental vulnerability, WHO stated, citing surveys showing an increase of prevalence of distress of 35% of the population surveyed in China, 60% in Iran, and 45% in the US.[1] Those most at risk and in need of help are front-line health care workers, older people, adolescents, young people, those with preexisting mental health conditions, and those caught up in conflict and crisis.
As for Indonesia, to address the novel coronavirus, the government has announced a psychological consultation service to ensure the public’s mental health during the coronavirus outbreak. The service called the Psychological Services for Mental Health (Sejiwa) program. The psychological consultation service can be accessed by dialing extension 8 on the National COVID-19 hotline of 119, where the caller would be connected to one of 162 volunteer psychologists from the Indonesian Psychology Association. The psychologists would provide multi-tier psychological support, from providing self-care and early psychological help to referring the callers to 533 psychologists across the country for further counseling and psychotherapy if necessary.[2]
The current COVID-19 pandemic has heightened uncertainty over the economy, employment, finances, and of course, physical and mental health, yet as human beings, we crave security. As much as the pandemic is something we can’t control our lives and well-being, we need to take time to check in within ourselves. At a time like this, it's important to be aware of our mental health, how are we doing on a daily and weekly basis, also it is really important that mental health is taken seriously. If you’re feeling your mental health is deteriorating, it is important to reach out and get help. Despite there are still Indonesians who perceived negatives stigma on people with mental health problems, those stigmas shouldn't hinder those who need professional help. Reaching out to a mental health care professional is often the first step to recovery.
[1] UN NEWS. UN leads call to protect most vulnerable from mental health crises during and after COVID-19. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063882 (diakses 15 Mei 2020). [2] The Jakarta Post. Psychological consultation hotline launched in virus-stricken Indonesia. https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/04/29/psychological-consultation-hotline-launched-in-virus-stricken-indonesia.html (diakses 15 Mei 2020). References
UN NEWS. UN leads call to protect most vulnerable from mental health crises during and after COVID-19. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/05/1063882 (diakses 15 Mei 2020).
The Jakarta Post. Psychological consultation hotline launched in virus-stricken Indonesia. https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/04/29/psychological-consultation-hotline-launched-in-virus-stricken-indonesia.html (diakses 15 Mei 2020).
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