María González-Aller: "COVID-19 forces us to manage many losses".

Psychologist María González-Aller talks to us about the psychological implications of the pandemic.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic are proving to be The effects of the coronavirus pandemic are more profound than might be expected from a crisis originating in the medical and health field.

Such is the depth of the mark it is leaving on our society that we can already speak of a context that is changing the way we think, feel and behave.

Psychologist María González-Aller Zavala has been looking at this type of change in the way people behave. in the way people behave and in the research carried out on the subject, and in this interview she talks to us about what is known so far about the effects of the pandemic on people's mental health.

Interview with María González-Aller: The effects of the pandemic on psychological health.

María González-Aller Zavala is a psychologist specializing in clinical and mental health, practicing in the Majadahonda and Las Rozas area, where she treats adults and adolescents. In this interview she talks to us about how the COVID-19 crisis is influencing us psychologically as a society.

In health crisis situations such as the coronavirus pandemic, does society tend to underestimate the importance of looking after psychological health at times like this?

In times of crisis, basic needs related to physical integrity take precedence, guided by our instinct for protection and survival. Our first need would be to shelter ourselves, protect our loved ones and have food at our disposal.

We respond in the same way as we would have millions of years ago, when we would have gone into our shelter with some game prey. Today, however, it is money that guarantees our subsistence. And in these conditions, psychological health takes a back seat.

The outbreak of the pandemic has been unexpected and yet it has had significant repercussions for practically everyone. Do you think that the need to adapt to this new reality exposes us more to anxiety disorders?

It certainly exposes us more, but that does not mean that it affects us equally, nor that it affects everyone as a disorder. Anxiety is a very important emotion linked to survival, it is a reaction of our body to a threat that helps us to fight or flee when our integrity detects an alarm, a danger. Thanks to it we develop many resources to adapt in the best way to the environment.

When we do not understand what is happening to us and we do not understand the symptoms that manifest themselves, it can lead to problems because we begin to develop a fear of that anxiety and a tendency to avoid situations. In this way it can become a disorder.

Addictions are surely also experienced in a very different way in these months, both in confinement and post-confinement situations. Isolation and the fact of having several sources of discomfort and worry could facilitate relapses or even the development of addictions in those who had never been "hooked" to something?

It is very easy that this situation has provoked relapses, or the beginning of an addiction, by increasing anxiety. There has been an increase in the consumption of alcohol, sugar, processed foods and new technologies.

On the other hand, the greater difficulty of access to certain substances, or to social environments that favored being within their reach, has sometimes made it necessary to reduce certain consumptions.

And as for the other major group of most frequent psychological problems, mood disorders such as depression or dysthymia, would you say that the coronavirus crisis will affect more people, or will we generally adapt our emotions to this new context more or less spontaneously and without help?

The situation is generating many mood problems because COVID-19 forces us to manage many losses, at all levels. Personal losses, economic losses, losses of projects and illusions, of routines? The vast majority of people have been affected, to a greater or lesser extent.

Loss generates sadness. And this emotion, like all emotions, needs to be elaborated in order to be able to adapt. The situation of confinement has forced us not to be able to count on social support resources, so necessary for this elaboration.

With regard to personal losses, not having been able to accompany us through the illness, nor to say goodbye to our loved ones, makes it very difficult to process the grief. This situation makes much more necessary the help of mental health professionals to be able to carry it out in the best way.

In terms of family and couple relationships, what do you think may be the most frequent psychological effects of the pandemic on our way of living together and interacting with others?

Family and couple conflicts have been exacerbated, derived from living together and from all the problems that existed previously. With regard to interactions with others, we generally observe a logical distancing and greater distrust.

Couple crisis is one of the most notable effects. The number of separations has skyrocketed. And there are many cases in which wanting to end a relationship, it is discarded because the necessary economic and social resources are not available.

As a psychotherapy professional, what challenges have you set yourself to adapt to this context marked by the spread of the virus and the fear of new waves of contagion?

Online therapy is the best resource to use in psychotherapy at this time. My challenge is to convince those people who, due to lack of knowledge, do not believe that it is as effective as face-to-face therapy.

The biggest advantage is the security against contagion, both for patients and for professionals, as they avoid being exposed.

In the short term, what can a psychologist do to help people who are going through bad times for reasons related to the pandemic?

In the short term, the most important thing is to be able to provide an outlet and help to manage all the emotions experienced and to learn strategies to solve all these problems. It is essential to offer a trusting environment where emotions can be validated and supported.

And in the long term, what are the benefits of going to therapy if it is needed in the face of all that is happening?

In the long term, the most important thing will be to have been able to learn and grow personally from all these difficult experiences.