08/11/2020 - 18:12
- Clarín.com
- Society
Neuroscientist Facundo Manes said that by the quarantine "we are seeing an epidemic of mental illness and Argentines are exhausted" and said that young people are the ones who suffer the most: "8 out of 10 have depression."
The INECO Foundation carried out an investigation on the effects of quarantine on mental health. The study was done 6 days after the isolation began and then the same for a further 72 days. The results were startling.
According to Manes, "health cannot be separated into physical and mental health, health is comprehensive and today we Argentines are exhausted, " he began in an interview on Radio Miter.
Regarding the results of the investigation, he said that anxiety already affects half the population, with 55 percent: "Anxiety was the first symptoms we saw, and it was logical, because we were facing something new. But now what has increased was the Depression".
Regarding the latter, he added: "Today 6 out of 10 Argentines have symptoms of depression, something that five times the values of the pre-pandemic."
The neuroscientist gave another piece of information about the study and said that young people are the most affected. “ According to our work, 8 out of 10 young people in the country have symptoms of mild, moderate and severe depression; and more than 6 out of 10 have mild, moderate or severe anxiety symptoms ”.
“Young people are being very affected and what we have to avoid is that this becomes chronic. Health is only one, and if it is not made a priority, Argentina is going to have to be rebuilt. If we have a 'burned' people, an exhausted society, no matter how much we fix the debt or bring investments, if we have a depressed, unmotivated and anxious people, we are facing not only a humanitarian problem, but also a social and economic one, "he said.
In this sense, he argued that "politicians must give a clear horizon. When society suspects that there is opportunism, interest and there is no predictability, it makes us more miserable from the point of view of mental health."
Then the neuroscientist spoke about the authorities' strategy when communicating: " What I see is that in addition to the virus, fear is spreading. It should be to lower the level of fear and increase care."
And he continued: "The fear that today exists in a generalized way is a negative emotional state that is generated by an immediate threat. Fear is very effective for social control."
To finish, Manes warned about the possibility of living with the coronavirus for many more months and in this way said that mandatory isolation is not a good option.
"We are not going to be able to be in an eternal quarantine. The quarantine alone does not serve to prevent the virus from arriving, but rather to trace, swab, isolate, improve the health system. But if that cannot be done because we are a poor country, the strategy would have to be changed. "
And he closed: "We are social beings and loneliness is a very important feeling, like thirst, hunger and pain. This virus grabs the best of our species, the ability to bond, to embrace us, and uses it against us" , said.
"We have to be connected with technology, with our affections, with our friends. We have to fulfill physical distancing but not social distancing," he added.
