Irene Hartmann
07/24/2020 - 7:00
- Clarín.com
- Society
They said we can get out a little more, just when the coronavirus seriously hit the street. How does our conflicting messages digest our mental health? What feelings are brought into play with light quarantine again ? What problems hang from the invitation to resume habits of "normal" life? By the way, does that normality still exist or is it an illusion?
In early July, the UBA Observatory of Applied Social Psychology released a survey to 2,800 adults from AMBA. They were asked what term expressed their mood. They said, first of all, " uncertainty ". Then "tiredness", "fear of the future" and "anguish". When asked to express a positive word of the confinement, they pointed out, first of all: " nothing / none ". Then "unity / union", "patience", "love", "value", "family". In addition, 49% stated that the coronavirus represents a " great threat ".
Comparison with the worst scenes of the pandemic (terminally ill patients, deaths) is useful for revaluing life, but disables any other analysis. The references to "uncertainty" and "nothing / none" are enough to see that "well-well" no one is. For this reason, just as it was difficult to accept the confinement, go outside, gradually leave the "cabin" will also not be free .
As of this week, the relaxation of the quarantine allows the attendance to churches and temples is allowed, with different restrictions to avoid the spread of coronavirus. / EFE
And it won't be for anyone. Neither for the fearful who see a minefield everywhere, nor for the antisocials who found “their place” in the quarantine, confinement that freed them from a tedious pressure to “participate”; nor for those burdened by the “cabin syndrome”, those who hope to return to “normal life”, as if such a thing were really possible.
Talking about the costly transition towards the more flexible quarantine, Ingrid Sarchman, a communication scientist, teacher at the seminar "Computing and society" at the UBA Faculty of Social Sciences, focused on an elementary question: "How will we present ourselves again in public after after so many months relegating our social side ? What will that rehabilitation be like? "
At stake are "from physical and aesthetic issues to aspects related to psychic changes. Because, beyond the fact that telework requires some routine, some of the sociability was inevitably postponed. After all, the offline encounter with others requires rules related to hygiene, clothing, accessories, makeup and any element that shows that we are physical bodies, that we occupy spaces and produce effects in the presence of others . ”
From the end of July, the Buenosairean boys will be able to take a walk with their parents an hour a day. Photo: Juano Tesone
The issue is not minor: they were months in which some of the "norms of the civilization process (which in recent centuries have shaped the body ... bathing, dressing, eating with cutlery, among others) were suspended".
In this sense, Sarchman pointed out, “the unknown may be whether we want to return to that self- coercion . Is it possible that our subjectivities resist that? If the teleworking modality prevailed because there was no alternative, could it be that some have found in this withdrawal from public life a kinder, more protected modality, less exposed to the eyes of others and do not want to return from there? ”.
Self preservation
They are disturbing questions. For her part, Clara Raznosczyk Schejtman, psychoanalyst dedicated to early childhood and clinic of children and adolescents, professor at the Faculty of Psychology of the UBA and the University of Belgrano, emphasized the role of subjectivity and the reaction to to privations.
For her, "although we have to take the messages of community care, the implementation is individual, from each person and from each family. Each one sees how they resolve their situation of confinement and, also, how it comes out of it."
Before entering a Buenos Aires fair, an employee takes a woman's temperature to check that she does not have coronavirus. / EFE
Because, he said, “regarding the anguish, each one built defenses against the threat of the pandemic . The pandemic is worldwide, but the crossing is unique. Some are defiant and flaunt their transgressions, while others are fearful . The complexity is in how you position yourself against the norm on three levels: as an individual, as a family and in front of society ”.
These are issues that fully affect urban life. Because, in the coming weeks, will we continue to respect equally the two meters, the chinstrap, frequent handwashing and avoiding clandestine "meetings"?
At this point, the psychologist explained that deprivations are at stake, and how they expose us to challenging situations: “In psychoanalysis there is a paradigm that is of the self-preservation of sexuality . Self-preservation is the basic for survival. In the child it is affection, shelter and food . When there is an external threat of self-preservation, a destructuring is generated ”.
In adults, “food is the economic situation. Without food and without affection, in this context some people fall into great depressions ; others, in violence . Of course, it does not mean that poverty itself makes anyone violent. The issue is this destructuring ”.
Is there a "saving" recipe to continue unscathed in this changing daily life? Martín Etchevers, professor and research secretary at the UBA Faculty of Psychology, spoke of essential learning in this context.
People with masks on the streets of Buenos Aires, where the isolation measures for the coronavirus were relaxed. / EFE
“We have a great saturation at the cognitive level. What is required is to learn certain behaviors , but also to automate them , as happened with the use of the SUBE or with incorporating the seat belt into our lives. The issue is that automating behavior requires a trial instance, "he explained.
“I recently spoke with a very phobic and hypochondriacal person who went months without leaving. She said 'I'm going to start moving a little bit more.' Doing it gradually, so that it is not a great big shock, is essential. It's all about doing gradual rehearsals, with an emphasis on what you should do and not so much on what you shouldn't do. ”
The meaning of all this is to achieve, through the automation of new behaviors, the functional reintegration into society : "The truth is that there was little rehearsal. So, in the interaction it happens that one comes who wants to hug you to greet you and you have to maintain the posture of rejecting and greeting him with your elbow. You have to learn and automate new behaviors that replace old ones so that there is no disagreement . "
Because, he affirmed, “ there is no longer the life of before . The 'stressor' is still with us. For some it is too strong, they do not tolerate it and they withdraw. Others underestimate it, put themselves at risk, and put others at risk. It is no use overestimating or underestimating it. ”
The key is to " maintain a functional stress level , which is useful: maintain a small alarm system that prepares you to connect with adversity and difficulties to overcome, proactively."
And he concluded: "You have to accept that the risk exists. Going out and relating to others is the biggest challenge. It involves relocating."
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