WOW: Covid-19 Psychological Problems
- IIUM TREASURE
- May 25, 2020
- 4 min read
IG Live session with Aiman Psikologi
(28th April 2020)
During RMO, what are the psychological problems that can arise?
a) Anxiety of the uncertainties. Because of we cannot predict the future, many questions playing in our mind about what is going to happen every day. Anxiety is normal, but it can be a big problem if it is excessive and uncontrolled.
b) Depression. We need to practise social distancing that results us to feel empty and lonely. But we can prevent depression by connect and socialise with others virtually by various type of technologies.
How can a person diagnose himself/herself for having mental health issue?
Firstly, we need to differentiate between having mental health issue and mental disorder. Person with mental disorder is diagnosed with mental health problem but having mental health issue means the person is facing some challenges that affect mental well-being. So, we can estimate that we are having mental health issue if we are physically affected by our emotion, thought or feeling. As example, excessive sweating and rapid heartbeat due to anxiety and depression. The consequence is our daily activities are affected such as disturbed sleeping pattern, loss appetite and headache. Hence, when we realise that we are having the symptoms of psychological health issue, we need to seek help.
If a someone said that he/she having a depression and want to commit suicide, is this can be considered as having mental issue as well?
We cannot easily say that the person is having mental disorder, but he/she maybe has mental health issues. This means if the person did not seek help, mental health issue can turn out to be a mental disorder. This is because, someone with mental health issue usually comes with emotional, spiritual and physical issues. Everyone can feel depress but not everyone can have depression. That is why, necessary action is very important by the professionals to give help. As an initiative, we can do online questionnaire called DASS (Depression Anxiety Stress Scales) test that function as a screening tools to detect if there is something wrong happens with us.
During RMO, how can we help a person with anxiety or depression?
Firstly, we need to have a mindset that we are helping them as a friend, not as a counsellor, psychologist or a psychotherapist. We need to understand our limitation because at the end, if the person getting worst, we will feel stress because we are not being able to help. So how to be a good friend? We can offer our help to them such as by trying to communicate with them or randomly by offering a helping hand. Although during RMO, we still can have a video call, voice call or chatting on social media. At least, the person is not feeling empty and lonely.
Will there still be any psychological problems after RMO ended?
There will be some effects arise from previous experience. Anxiety or depression can reoccur even after RMO ended if there is any trigger.
What do you define as professional helps?
There are a lot of options to seek for helps. As a student, you can seek help from counselling team or private psychological centre. You can choose either private service or any government medical centre to ask for help.
What do you think about the stigma for someone who are having mental health?
In our life, there are things that we able not able to control. We can control what we think, not others. For surely, it is impossible for us to change others expectation. So, it is better for us to think about the benefits for ourselves first. We need to put in our mindset, mental health is important as physical health. Education is the key to have this kind of mindset.
What do you think about domestic violence during RMO?
Based on statistics, China recorded an increasing of domestic violence during quarantine period. This is because, there could be problem arising when family members are gathering. Even a subtle issue such as miscommunication can lead to violence. In Malaysia, Talian Nur calls increase during RMO. I would say that domestic violence can happen because the abuser may experience it before. Other than calling Talian Nur, a family should have an initiative to discuss together about this problem.
Is it okay if someone choose to stay away from their family if they are having family crisis, instead of solving it?
There are certain things that we can choose and cannot choose. For example, we can choose our friends, but we cannot choose our family because we are born with it. Stay away from family can help to calm the situation but not to solve the problem. The best way is we need to solve the problems.
How to overcome anxiety during RMO?
You can practise STOP Technique.
S: Stop. Whatever you're doing, just pause momentarily.
T: Take a very deep breath. Re-connect with your breath. The breath is an anchor to the present moment.
O: Observe or called as grounding. Notice what is happening. You can list 5 things that we can see, 5 things that we can hear and 5 things that you can touch, 2 things that you can smell and 1 thing that you can taste.
P: Proceed. Continue doing what you were doing.
Conclusion
Also, I want to share one tips to overcome mental problems by writing a journal. The journal has 4 columns. The first column, you need to describe the situation that happened. In the second column, write about your feeling regarding what has happened. Next, write what your response on the third column and in the last column, write the suggestions to solve the issue if someone else is facing the same problems. This is one of the best ways to overcome anxiety and depression. Lastly, quarantine period can be the starting of mental problems. We need to overcome even simple mental issue because it can lead to a bigger and worst disorder. So, we need to ask help from professionals as soon as possible because the faster mental issues are solved, the more effective the solution.
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