By NG Seruela
The Department of Health-Disease Prevention and Control Bureau (DOH-DPCB) said the COVID-19 pandemic causes people to experience higher anxiety and stress levels because they “cannot anticipate what’s going to happen.”
In a Laging Handa public briefing on Tuesday (June 22), DOH-DPCB Chief Officer Frances Prescilla Cuevas said that based on surveys conducted in early 2020, the anxiety and stress levels of the public have increased because only little information about the virus was revealed.
“And sa kanilang pagsusuri, tumaas po ang anxiety at stress level ng mga tao, which is understandable, kasi natakot ang lahat sa mga pangyayaring hindi natin alam,” she said.
“People really cannot anticipate what’s going to be happening. So anxiety levels are still there, stress levels are still a little bit high,” she added.
She said those who have already received their vaccines might have lower anxiety and stress levels. However, since the government is still advising the public to strictly observe the minimum health standards, they are still in a hypervigilant state.
She explained that the hypervigilant state is a situation where a person is always on guard, causing high stress and anxiety levels.
“‘Pag ang isang tao…nasa hypervigilant state, ‘pag palaging nakabantay, palaging nakaantabay, palaging ang nasa isip ay kailangan bantayan ko ang sarili ko – iyong stress level mo ay medyo mataas at iyong anxiety level mo ay tumataas. “
Cuevas warned that if the high levels of stress and anxiety continue for a long time, it can lead to a chronic condition and become a mental illness.
“Kasi alam mo, ‘pag alam mo kung ano ang hinaharap mo, anong klaseng virus mayroon, you know what to do, then that’s a very important part of maintaining our mental health and well-being, ‘pag alam mo kung ano ang dapat mong gagawin,” de Guzman said.
“Kaya po ang Departamento ng Kalusugan ay talagang nagpapalabas ng mga maraming mga social media card, mga kaalaman, communications, para po people will know what to do. So that’s a very important part of what we did,” she advised.
To detect mental health problems, she said that it is important to be aware of oneself.
“Ang importante na malaman is, may pagbabago ba sa aking ginagawa? Kunwari lang, ikaw ay nanay, nakikita mo iyong mga anak mo, o nakita mo iyong asawa mo, o nakita mo iyong kapatid mo sa bahay na mayroong kaunting pagbabago sa kanyang usual na ginagawa — kunwari lang, hindi naman iyan natutulog ng ganoon katagal, pero sa ngayon ay parang hindi na nagigising, tulog na lang siya ng tulog.
“O kaya noon, pala-istorya, palakibo, naghahalaklak, pero ngayon parang hindi na siya nakikipagsama, salamuha sa buong pamilya, so baka mayroon na siyang problema.”
She encouraged the public who need help regarding their mental health to call these National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) numbers:
1553
0966-351-4815
4518
0908-639-2672
-jlo
