Gelisim News

The coronavirus, which has emerged in Wuhan, China, and has rapidly become a global epidemic by spreading around the world, also adversely affects mental health. Sp. Dr. Psychiatrist Emre Tan from Istanbul Gelisim University, who pointed out that the rightful information given to increase public awareness turns into an obsession when people want to survive, said: “Unfortunately, this epidemic we have experienced recently has increased these obsessions. Wherever you look, there are many directives such as 'wash your hand like this, protect your clothes when you go out, do not put your hand on your face'. All of these reveals obsessions and concerns in people such as ‘I wonder if I'm doing it right? Am i doing wrong? Do I get sick? Do I get infected when I get sick? Do I harm my family?"

“AVOIDING IT MAKES A MAN RESTLESS”

Defining the obsession as knowing the irrationality of the action, but keeping to do it, Tan said: “In the subtypes of obsessions, the most commons are contamination obsession, transmission obsession, the idea of catching a disease, the idea of being uncomfortable or regular replacement of certain objects, making them symmetrical, arranging them according to their size. Obsession is a condition that the person is aware of. He also knows that it is illogical, but he cannot stop from doing it. Because when he does this, the current will dampen him. So he thinks his hand is dirty, the urge to go and wash him comes one after another. It becomes restless when it can't be washed. He turns to other compulsive behaviors that will ease this situation that comes to his mind, and if he does not, his restlessness increases very often.”

“WE SHOULD ACCEPT OUR EXISTING ANXIETY”

Emphasizing that there is an extraordinary situation over the world, the psychiatrist said:

“Uncertainty is one of the most important factors that constitute anxiety. The person wants to take control of his / her environment and to see in front of him. Anxiety and various obsessions will be revealed in every situation where they cannot do these things. Now we are all warned. Man tries to adapt all his energy to the whole nervous system to survive, but this causes us to waste a lot of energy. In the following periods, we will come in periods when both our physical and spiritual strength decrease, which we call burnout syndrome. Taking into account those periods, it is beneficial for us to stay a little more controlled. We also have to accept our current and anxious state. It is very natural that our anxieties are increased, it is essential for us to accept this, to face it, to face our way of life, our existence, our emotions and to live healthier.”

“INCREASE IN THE DEPRESSIVE CONDITIONS CAN BE OBSERVED”

Tan reminding of obsessive-compulsive disorder in 1 and 3 out of 100 people, added: “In this period, we observe an increase in the ailments of these patients and an increase in their symptoms. In addition, we can say that the probability of getting sick increases in some people who did not have a psychiatric illness before. Although it is not only a disease, there is some deterioration in general feelings, an increase in some anxiety, obsessive behavior and an increase in behavior. In patients with mental illness, anxiety disorders, obsessive compulsive disorders dimensions of pessimism and helplessness are added, if the process is too long, there may be an increase in depressive states, an increase in the number of patients, which will occur with burnout.”

“POSITIVE BELIEF IS EFFECTIVE IN WINNING THE VIRUS”

Saying that physical and mental health work in connection with each other, Sp. Dr. Psychiatrist Emre Tan made the following recommendations stating that “if we can maintain our positive belief, it will be so easy to overcome this disease”:

“When stress, anxiety, worry, is a situation that causes the body's response to that situation, the probability of success decreases a little. In other words, depending on how strong our emotional structure and our morale is, we can overcome this situation more easily and to be more successful. Let's try to keep our morale a little high, calm down. Let's take our precautions to strengthen our immune system as much as we can, pay attention to the social distance, at least take our precautions to catch or infect. Let's keep the emotional processes here balanced by a certain amount.”