It’s not easy to predict what’s going to happen in our heads after that. The mood swings that animated the 70 days of lockdown will continue to be our trusted companion? Will the isolation make us colder? And what about the anxiety?
We (virtually) met Giulia Disegna, adolescent psychologist, who has taken away some doubt.
Starting a therapy is often a taboo, some patients prefer to keep it to themselves. Why?
Because for a long time therapy has been considered only as a cure to discomfort and because there was the idea that “if you go to therapy is because you are crazy”. Fortunately the evolution of the times has also led to a greater openness, to a recognition that therapy has more to do with psychological WELL-BEING, not only with discomfort. Pop culture has also greatly influenced the organization of psychological well-being in the narrative of the press, music and tv series… finally!
Is it true that you can be wrong therapist? That not all psychologists are suitable for us?
True, not all psychologists are suitable for us because each of us (therapist or patient) is different and has their own elective affinities: an example that we have all experienced is with clothes (I know, it’s a bit trivial but universal!): what’s good for my sister could be very bad for me. Similarly, if I like someone very much, it can be annoying for my colleague. A therapist may be perfect for me but definitely unsuitable for another person with another mindset.
What is lockdown anxiety?
It is the following response to the communication of the need for isolation and quarantine in a world where almost everything was accessible. We found ourselves dealing with a complicated and uncertain process, surrounded by heavy news and for the first time we had to deal with an impalpable and undeterminable enemy. Anxiety has manifested itself in various ways, amplified by the infodemia and the fact that we found ourselves breaking our daily routine.
What impact does imprisonment have on an anxious person?
Anxiety is a state of mind with which everyone, more or less, we have learned to deal with in recent weeks but, often, imprisonment has led people to amplify the already existing apprehensions regarding work or family members, to their level of health. Isolation and imprisonment play an important role because discomfort becomes incommunicable and irreconcilable and is therefore lived in its entirety, with few management alternatives that could for example be provided by more or less close contacts with others.
What advice would you give to a teenager forced into the house with his family without any relief valve?
To arm oneself with patience and try to know in a different way one’s own “roommates”. This forced cohabitation could bring out some unexpected characteristics of parents or brothers: we are all out of our daily role and, therefore, we can see if the script can change… Be the first change you want in your world.
What will be the most common psychological attitudes post Covid-19?
It is difficult to make predictions because Covid-19 is an event that has radically modified all of our universe known to happen, with difficulties aftermath on an anxious and depressive basis, even mild.
We will probably be a little more distant from each other, not only physically, I expect a difficulty to resume contacts with the relational world, as if we had to start from the beginning to get to know each other. We’ll regain confidence in time.
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