“STILL a lockdown, I see no way out of this situation”. A year after the first closures, part of Italy is again in the red zone. Here we go again, all home. The hope of a closer normality thanks to the vaccine, after the suspension of AstraZeneca, the stop and now the restart of the campaign, however, slows down. The moment in which we will all be immunized goes away in our thoughts. Anxiety and uncertainties emerge. Fear of contagion, the impossibility of having a social life and uncertainty increase the anxiety disorders and cases of depression. We can’t take it anymore because for too many months we have been facing a difficult situation that has revolutionized our lives. Already in the long months of restrictions that we have left behind, experts have spoken of an explosion of depressive symptoms linked to the pandemic.
Covid, isolation guilty of 1 in 5 cases of depression
by Valeria Pini
A problem that shows no signs of stopping. “Psychiatric disorders and depression will inevitably increase. Lack of contacts, segregative constraint, absolutely necessary, mind you, long duration of the restrictive regime, economic anxieties, forced cohabitation without alternating rhythms of absence / presence, overall feelings of helplessness and of lack of perspectives and the list could go on “, explains the psychoanalyst Stefano Bolognini, former president of the Italian Psychoanalytic Society (Spi).
Professor Bolognini, what has changed since the first lockdown?
“If in the first lockdown the fear of contagion was generalized and alienating, in a science fiction atmosphere, in this second year the experiences of powerlessness, uncertainty of the future and relative reliability of the political and civil authorities prevail: not out of disregard for them, but for the undeniable evidence of the complexity of the problem “.
Have panic attacks increased?
“In my opinion, the states of acute anxiety of a claustrophobic order have increased. People feel trapped, not only and not so much because they have to physically stay at home, but because they have to be in a situation that they cannot avoid and from which they cannot escape “.
Often these are disturbances that Covid has only amplified or brought out earlier.
“Yes, these are ailments that still smoldered under the ashes, but which were previously compensated by the possibility of escape and by the illusion of being” unconditional “in absolute terms: what I call the “You won’t have me!” syndrome. Many of these psycho-emotional configurations prevent some people from accepting a stay in containers whose opening cannot be decided by them, for example planes, trains, buses. frustrates these fantasies of self-determination. “
What are the most frequent ailments today?
“The manifestations of acute anxiety, or, in a different form, depressive states, were much lower last year”.
How to help patients and make people accept that they have to stay at home?
“The two things that, as far as I see, calm a bit ‘anguish and sadness in this period are the thoughts about the vaccine, even if in recent days there has been a dramatic collapse of confidence after the Astrazeneca affair, and the historical references to great epidemics that had a very long average duration, about two years, but then they ended. These references induce a certain relief and a certain hope, although paradoxically indicating damn long temporal terms, because in any case they offer a prospect of salvation: better two years than l eternity. I’m talking, of course, about psychological reactions, not logical ones. “
Covid can bring out malaise within families. How to try to manage conflicts?
“There are no recipes. It is important, however, that no one hysterically discharges his internal malaise on family members, taking it out on others who are at home, especially with their parents: the evacuating turbulence of the” It’s raining – government thief! ” anyone wandering around the apartment should be restrained and avoided at this juncture. We are all in the same boat. Always remember the three capons tied by the feet that Renzo Tramaglino wore to the Azzeccagarbugli: they pecked and slaughtered each other as if another was the culprit of their impotence and thus they worsened their situation “.
Longform
Anorexia, with Covid and lockdown the risk increases
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Can talking to loved ones be helpful? What to do if you live alone?
“Networking with friends and relatives is certainly a good thing.” Badly common means joy. “Today I am in the mood for proverbs and popular wisdom. The fact of not being forgotten but rather being able to exchange feelings and ideas is still a great medicine; the simplest, and often the only one possible. Never close yourself off to the world “.
Many are concerned about vaccines. They don’t see a way out. What to do to calm them down?
“Making vaccines“.
What did we do wrong in the first lockdown?
“We were essentially wrong to portray an unrealistic brevity of the pandemic / immune process. We now know that the optimistic idea of getting by in a few months exposed us to heavy disappointments and frustrations. Preparing for a long time helps to find everything less upsetting, even if in fact saddens “.
What are the tips for families?
“Organizing family life in a liveable way, not suspending interests but guiding them towards the possible modalities in the period. Furthermore, it can also be a time to think and make plans for the future, taking care to prepare realistic ones”.
The other epidemic, cases of anorexia and bulimia increase
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