“Until now, politics has ignored the psychological effects of the pandemic. We have all experienced trauma, but many are not asking for help.”

“Until now, the policy has focused on economic effects of the pandemic“And not” about the psychological “. But” what we experienced was a traumatic event “, and” unfortunately many people are ashamed and therefore do not ask for help. “For them, for all of us,” support has not yet been provided ” . Speaks Elena Germani, psychologist-psychotherapist, who from her study of Codogno, the town of Lodigiano where patient 1 was discovered last February, has provided support to many residents of quarantined municipalities. Scared people, patients who had contracted the virus, health personnel who have experienced the devastating consequences of Covid-19 on their own skin.

Since February, have there been many people who have come to you about issues related to the coronavirus?
From about February to April, I worked mostly by phone or video calls. Some people have asked for a route because of the virus: This experience has sparked some previously latent problems, or at least anxieties that were first kept in check and then, with concerns about the virus and forced quarantine, erupted.

Were more people affected by the virus or those who, instead, showed anxiety related to the health emergency and quarantine?
The people who contacted me and whom I continue with psychological support have get the virus and then they healed, but they still haven’t fully resolved what happened. Above all they have difficulty to sleep, nightmares, frequent awakenings and then so afraid of contagion. That is why they implement behaviors that in their belief will protect them from the virus: they limit their travels, disinfect everything … even buy it before putting it back at home. Then there are also the couple’s or individual petitions related to couple problems, because forced cohabitation has made difficulties more evident and has brought to the surface problems that were previously ignored or tolerated. As long as we were away from home all day because we were working and there were other distractions, they could be endured, while with the forced quarantine they exploded.

I read a post on your Facebook page about the great mass elimination of this pandemic. Can you explain your position on this issue?
It refers to the fact that the policy was very focused on the economic aspect, very important for charity. But it has been ignored that what happened, both the confinement and the post-confinement, but also the economic problems derived from all this, can have psychological effects. No support provided From this point of view, and whoever feels a need should be activated. What we lived through was a traumatic event, but it does not have the same effect on all people. We have the capacity for resilience, plasticity: over time our brain has the ability to go back to work and then recover and regain a kind of stability. However, someone else fights alone and therefore would need help, maybe even some meetings with a specialist. Unfortunately, many people feel embarrassed and therefore do not ask for help., this however could do make the problem chronic.

How long will we have to live with the psychological consequences of this situation?
It is difficult to give a time limit, I think that for a long time we will have to manage the effects of what happened. A little because many people don’t know they need help and they continue as if nothing, until reaching a level where at least everything resurfaces. Besides the fact that we do not objectively know when a vaccine will be found, what will happen next fall. Everything is a climate of uncertainty that makes us nervous, as if we were waiting for another catastrophe. As long as there are no certainties, fear will remain in the air, someone will be more affected and will fight more, while others will not have great repercussions.

Will the way we relate to other people change in the long run? Will only some people do this, while others will prefer to delete everything?
I think this epidemic has only accentuated what was already there. Those who were “good” and tolerant of others in a genuine way have been strengthened; On the other hand, those who were more egocentric and not particularly inclined to be good to others, did not learn to be tolerant, in fact many “executioners” emerged, unable to take into consideration the other’s point of view. For example, during the confinement I remember the case of a woman insulted for driving a car: she was actually a nurse who was going to work.

Photo February 2020

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