Concerning in Public Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic, Counsellors Speak…

What happened in the second quarter of 2020 was something that shook the world. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic besides causing the spread of the disease itself, it also has a devastating effect on the global financial crisis. Thus, even though they are not exposed to physical illness, many people have undergone mental health problems during this pandemic.

A millennial woman who is also a legal practitioner, Agita Pasaribu, has a special concern for public mental health due to the pandemic. For that reason, she took the initiative to form Bullyid Indonesia, a non-profit organization that has provided a digital channel for free psychiatric and legal counseling since May 2020.

The Platform

Agita said, "The Bullyid Indonesia platform, apart from providing counseling for mental health and legal issues, also provides action services both in the realm of law and information technology". In this case, if a client feels intimidated by cyberbullying, the hatespeech material that appears in cyberspace will be taken down by an IT – Bullyid Indonesia - expert and if the client wants to follow up from a legal perspective, he/ she will also be assisted.

One of the psychological counseling teams who handle quite a lot of client problems is Nerissa Wijaya who lives in Surabaya. Her interest in counseling the realm of children and families seems to be very much needed by most of the public today. Moreover, Nerissa's experience is helped a lot by case examples from her closely environment.

The Cases

Intimidation of HR during WFH - The emergence of the COVID 19 pandemic resulted in many work activities being carried out online at home. This process has undeniably reduced the productivity of Human Resources performance. Leaders who are stressed by the decline in company output, it turns out that many also take it out on HR by intimidating them about their performance which is considered unsatisfactory for the company and leads to layoffs. This successive pressure in the realm of work is an example of a case of mental disorders among working parents in their families.

Revenge Porn - With the socialization of #DiRumahAja (Stay at Home) activities, most dating couples communicate more intensively in the online, including the matter of "making out" which leads to sexual activity (even though via online). Without realizing it, communication conflicts when dating are also more vulnerable in a pandemic like this. When relationships break up, many women are harassed by the posting of indecent photos of them online. Teens are insecure to "speak up" even to their own parents.

Set the Good Mind & Firmed Lifestyle

For both Agita and Nerissa, the concept of mindset and lifestyle plays an important role for mental stability at this time, so, what tips do they have?

 

Agita Pasaribu speaks…

Light exercise like cardio is thought to be able to maintain endorphin hormone levels so that we feel happy. In addition, the balance of dopamine as a hormone controlling emotions can also be done by regularly chatting casually in any case with loved ones. As a millennial woman who likes traveling, in this pandemic, Agita replaced it with virtual traveling through digital applications by visiting museums in various countries online. "That's the way to keep me in a good mind," she concluded.

 

Nerissa Wijaya speaks…

Deep sleep! This is an important method to keep the mind fresh. Eliminate over thinking with relaxation, adjust your breath and learn to calm down for a moment, avoiding other people. This will be considerable to create better quality to sleep. In addition, it is the same as what Miss Agita said that chatting with loved ones is also a powerful mental cure.