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Flour, milk, butter. The hands manipulate the ingredients, while the mind moves from the recipe to plunge into worry.
The daily sale of 800 snacks has been reduced to large orders since, due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, which has already killed more than 1,500 people in Brazil, Juliana Siqueira closed the snack stand that she managed with her mother in the Nova favela. Holland, Complexo da Maré, north of Rio de Janeiro.
More than the financial loss, the 22-year-old calculates how much the change in routine has affected her self-confidence.
“It seems very simple, but selling was what motivated me to reach other plans. I did a pre-university entrance exam in the afternoon and stayed in the tent at night. Now, I’m not getting used to studying remotely and working alone in House”. Sometimes I cry and I feel like throwing everything away. I have been working hard for Enem and still there is a fear of not being good enough. The classroom inspired me to dream, to believe that I can get where I want, “says the 22-year-old, who still decides whether to study social work or biology.
Juliana makes snacks at home and is concerned about the sales impact caused by the new coronavirus.
Image: Giulia Santos
According to psychologist Stallone Pereira, Juliana’s story is not an exception among Maré’s youth. Even before the pandemic, lack of motivation and lack of perspective were among the main demands of this age group in psychosocial care carried out in the philanthropic organization Fight for Peace, located in Complexo da Maré.
“Even taking qualification courses, young people fear that their curriculum is not enough to enter or ascend to the job market. Therefore, they began to question what it will be like after quarantine: if companies are shooting, can you imagine hiring someone who is inexperienced? one of them is also informal, sells sweets and cookies in traffic jams on the yellow and red line (motorways through Maré), “Pereira explains.
The impossibility of moving around the favela, which is, according to the psychologist, a space for coexistence and exchange that corroborates the identity of young people, also contributed to the increase in cases related to anxiety and depression, which are expressed through violence and the idea of self-provocation. suicide, which began to have cases recorded daily by Fight for Peace during the first three weeks of isolation.
Opportunity in the labor market? A good part of the youth from the periphery is in informality, selling sweets and cookies in the jams of the yellow and red line.
Image: Patrick Mendes / Images of the town
Capital panic
In the CAPS (Psychosocial Care Centers), measuring the new mental health scenario in times of coronavirus remains a challenge, as the teams adapt to remote care and new scales. In one of the units in São Gonçalo, a municipality in the Rio Metropolitan Region, the number of employees was cut in half with the release of professionals who fit the risk groups for the coronavirus or those who depended on some lines intercity public transportation service suspended by Governor Wilson Witzel (PSC) to reduce movement of people. Who is at home monitors patients remotely, while the remaining professionals are organized in situ presence in pairs.
Adding 132 confirmed cases and eight deaths as of last Saturday (18), the city has already begun to feel reflections of the pandemic in patient reports, as psychologist Tainara Cardoso shares: “Apprehension with childcare and fear of an accentuation of poverty soon appeared. Then came fear of domestic violence and other family conflicts. “
The fear of domestic violence is justified. Right at the beginning of the social isolation, established to combat Covid-19, the state of Rio de Janeiro registered a 50% increase in cases of violence against women. In the state of São Paulo, the murder of women in the home practically doubled with quarantine.
“It is important to say that the concept of home does not always mean comfort for everyone,” says Tainara Cardoso. “The family can also be associated with complicated relationships, with a lot of imposition and verbal aggression. All this can influence an aggravation of the clinical picture.”
Risk group for depression?
A report from the WHO (World Health Organization) on mental disorders confirms the image presented by the professionals interviewed in this article, pointing out that the risk of being affected by depression may be higher due to factors such as poverty, unemployment, physical illnesses and problems caused by abusive use of alcohol and drugs. Excessive consumption is considered the ingestion of five or more doses of drink in a single day or moment, a recurring habit for approximately 25 million Brazilians, according to a survey on drug use conducted by Fiocruz published in 2017.
The WHO recommended last Tuesday that governments restrict access to alcoholic beverages due to the risk of mental health disorders and diseases, which can increase vulnerability to the coronavirus. During the first fortnight of isolation, the Guanabara chain, which mainly supplies suburban neighborhoods and metropolitan municipalities of Rio de Janeiro, had already registered a 20% growth in the sale of products. At a favorable time to search for escape options, Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) has invested in online meetings, so that its members are not discouraged.
According to the organization, compliance with remote meetings has gone beyond attendance to attendance in some groups. However, the difficulty of accessing mobile devices and technological knowledge remain barriers to be overcome. “There are still groups that have not implemented their meetings remotely, which worries us a lot. For us, coexistence, the exchange of experiences and personal contact is very important in recovery,” reinforces one of the coordinators of the AA committee. who preferred not to. identify you
It is the lack of this personal contact that those assisted by the Life Valuation Center (CVV) complain about. Reference in suicide prevention, the institution has verified the predominance of the mention of loneliness in calls to phone 188 and conversations in chat.
João Alexandre, one of the four thousand CVV volunteers, points out, however, that the period is more difficult for the elderly due to vulnerability to the virus and a change in routine. The death rate from coronavirus in the elderly can reach almost 15%. “They are the most affected by the emotional problem. Old age is still seen in a pejorative way: what is old is used and can be thrown away.”
Alexandre says the need for confinement leads to recurring violence for periphery residents, which can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a disease that affects approximately half a million people in the state, according to a survey conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 2017.
Clínica do Afeto is an initiative to promote health and well-being with an emphasis on caring for and discussing race relations based on itinerant meetings, which no longer happened due to the pandemic.
Image: Giulia Santos
And are there initiatives directed at blacks, the portion that suffers the most from this type of violence in Brazil? In 2018, the psychologist Juan Telles created the Clínica do Afeto, an initiative to promote health and well-being with an emphasis on care and discussion of race relations through itinerant meetings. The researcher argues that the exclusion and extermination policies established against the black Brazilian population have unleashed a racist imagery for which it is believed that “the body of a black man is strong, virile and invulnerable, that he does not need care.”
“The Clinic is a space to welcome and release the ties imposed by the oppressions experienced, which undoubtedly intensify in a pandemic context, when the few public policies implemented by the State are evident,” he evaluates.
With the face-to-face meetings prevented, Clínica do Afeto has used networks to act. It is on the networks, more precisely on Facebook, where groups such as “Quarantine in Wakanda” are found, where blacks share their experiences in isolation.
Biology teacher Raquel Albuquerque, member of the “Quarantine in Wakanda” and 28 weeks pregnant, created a group with other pregnant women to obtain suggestions for body and mind care. With a propensity for eclampsia, Raquel decided to move into her mother’s house: “I have anxiety and use medications. I left my house in Baixada Fluminense to stay with my mother in the interior of the state. I spent sleepless nights, desperate, thinking that my daughter would not have clothes or would die in childbirth, because even the doulas were forbidden to act. “
– The Life Valuation Center (CVV) provides emotional and preventive support for suicide. If you are looking for help, call 188 (toll free) or visit www.cvv.org.br.
* This report is part of the association between data_labe, Gender and Number, Énois and AzMina Magazine to cover the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) with cuts of gender, race and territory. Follow the networks and hashtags #EspecialCovid # COVID19NasFavelas #CoronaNasPeriferias
Collaborating in this edition: Fred Di Giacomo (coordination and editing), Giulia Santos (art), Juliana Marques (data).
