Quarantine and psychopathology: Minds in peril from another pandemic

narratives

COVID-19 Special Issue Volume 40, Issue 4

QUARANTINE AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Minds in Peril from another pandemic

Art Cedrik ROMERO

Acruise ship, Harmony of the Seas, housed one Filipina crew member waiting for repatriation— similar fate happening to thousands of Filipino workers, OFWs and the likes, seen in floating imprisonment vessels dotting the Manila Bay seascape.

On a reverse storyline where instead of reuniting with her family in a return back home in the Philippines, she instead met an unfortunate fate borne out of the circumstances also faced by millions of Filipinos under lockdown.

“It is my sad duty to report that a 28-year old female mariner committed suicide in her cabin in the ship where she’s had to stay because repatriation flights back to the Philippines have been suspended again,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr stated in a tweet following the incident.

Disorganized government data may not reveal, but thousands of OFWs, cabin and crew members, residing amongst the floating quarantine facilities in Manila Bay, are stranded in a depressive state, waiting for their test results so they can finally disembark. To be patient and "resilient" was the words thrown off by government officials—assuming that their degrading mental state was a small price to pay in adherence to the COVID-19 response plan, or the lack thereof.

Filipino resiliency has again and again been flaunted to give the Filipinos a false sense of overcoming. It, however, is not something that should be romanticized so as to cover up the government's lack of response to the citizen's welfare. This false positivity is a mirage, an illusory sense that people should not depend on the government, hold them accountable, but rather just build themselves from the ground up.

THE SUN IS NOT SHINING

The situation that the Filipina crew member found herself in is not an isolated case of course. A month before the incident, a Filipina domestic worker staying at a shelter run by the Philippine Embassy in Lebanon reportedly jumped from the second floor of the shelter and died of injuries.

According to a study, published in the research journal, The Lancet, those who have been quarantined, even then from previous outbreaks, showed prevalence of psychological distress and disorder.

Aforementioned study reported on general psychological symptoms, emotional disturbance, depression, stress, low mood, irritability, insomnia, post-traumatic stress symptoms (rated on Weiss and Marmar's Impact of Event Scale–Revised), anger, and emotional exhaustion.

Reported stressors include: separation from loved ones, loss of freedom, uncertainty over disease status, and boredom. In our local setting however, immense poverty and the inadequacy of pandemic response becomes a huge factor in the equation that resulted in a havoc, shattering even the firmest believer of Filipino resiliency.

The visible plight of the Filipinos to live is still evident, that even facing jail time seems to be sacrificial for some crumbs. Frustrations are manifested in the recent SWS survey described as the "worst trend in survey history" stating how 83% of Filipinos say their quality of life has worsened this year. This is neither shocking nor uncalled for, considering the gross incompetence of response that drowned us in a collective anguish.

One that is also foreseen is the spike in mental health consults amidst lockdown. The National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) psychiatrist Bernard Argamosa says their crisis hotline received an average of 30 to 35 calls per day and 400 calls per month during the lockdown. Most of which is "anxiety-related" concerns, at its peak caused by the unprecedented nature of the pandemic.

The populace is in a situation fraught with uncertainty, we are facing an unseen foe at varying degrees but of the same sort. As to how we can stretch the bands of the acclaimed Filipino resiliency, and to what limits should not be a question of inquiry in the first place. The people should not be placed in a situation where the deterioration of mental health comes last in a mind clouded but on an empty stomach.

HOSTILITY IN SUPPOSED SANCTUARY

Whereas our homes are supposedly retreats aiding in the cessation of virus transmission, it is also within the same walls that the perils of mental health trauma and violence occurs. The country’s Commission on Human Rights (CHR) recently warned of the rise of domestic violence cases linked to the lockdown measures since mid-March in the capital and nearby provinces.

The psychological trauma of domestic violence can vary from person to person, but most impacted are long-term victims already incapacitated of abuse that an escape from home is their only refuge. In distressing times like these where home is nothing but a place for violence, the lack of emotional support can lead to heightened fear, anxiety, depression, anger, posttraumatic stress, social withdrawal, the use of illicit drugs, alcohol dependence, and even suicide ideation.

Far more traumatic are instances of sexual acts and exploitation to women and even minors. Disturbingly, children as young as five years old were reportedly forced by their own parents or relatives to perform lewd sexual acts in front of a web cam in exchange for cash from foreign sexual predators as a quick—and deemed “harmless”—way out of poverty.

As Mullen and Fleming abstracted more than a decade ago on a study, consistent were the significant links between the history of child sexual abuse and a range of adverse outcomes both in childhood and adulthood. It was a formative experience, a very damaging one, that can be lessened and hopefully ceased, through a community effort.

BEEN IN THIS STATE OF MIND

Much like COVID-19, related mental health disorders also have symptoms that we can look out for and treat upon notice. To be resilient has always been an admirable Filipino trait, or myth. What needs to be overrated, however, is owning up those emotions and getting all the help that is available.

Maybe the Filipina crew member would have followed the usual storyline, where she reunited with her family, given better conditions. Much like the fate of many Filipinos in deplorable conditions, maybe this would have been prevented, if given proper response. Mental health disorders, although not spreadable by respiratory droplets, are still on the rise. One thing to note, however, is that mental health illnesses are not waiting for any vaccine.

It's one thing to raise awareness about mental health, and another to actually treat it. “In order to harness these feelings and direct them in productive and adaptive ways, we must acknowledge them to ourselves,” psychotherapist Dana Dorfman said, pointing out how not only can this provide relief, but it also reduces the power these feelings may have over you. The recognition of these detrimental feelings will always be a hard first step, but then the desire to seek for help will surely come after.

Not a vaccine, but a collective effort is needed to seek help for loved ones, in reporting cases of violence, and even reaching out to people struggling in self-isolation. Coping, surely, is individualized, in a way that one-sizefits-all does not apply. But in the individualistic becoming of our society, the term "bayanihan" outweighing "resiliency" might be our response to the second pandemic attacking the minds.

The National Center for Mental Health Crisis Hotline (24/7 free service)

0917899-USAP (09178998727) 7-989-USAP (7-989- 8727)

Hopeline Philippines (24/7 hotline):

0917-558-4673 (Globe); 0918-873-4673 (Smart) 02-88044673 (PLDT) 2919 (toll-free for Globe and TM)

Department of Social Welfare and Development

(02)931-8101 to 07

Philippine National Police

723-0401 to 20

PNP Women and Children Protection Center

410-3213

NBI Violence Against Women and Children Desk

523-8231 to 38/525-6028

COVID-19 Special Issue Volume 40, Issue 4

narratives

ILLUSTRATION BY JUSTINE MOGOL

NEW NORMAL EDUCATION

ONLY FOR THE PRIVILEGED

COVID-19 really turned the universe 360 degrees. From the endless beeps of cars on the streets to the loud buzz of people coming together for work and parties; the world shifted from its usual busy schedule into a “more relaxed and laid back” pattern. The pandemic has also taught everyone different life lessons—lessons that will be inculcated in their minds for the rest of their lives. But one thing’s for sure, COVID-19 made almost everyone realize that quality education in this time is not for all. It is only for those who are privileged.

All sectors of the society are heavily affected as the pandemic still continues to threaten the lives of people across the Philippines. From the economic collapse and the government’s failure to cater the people’s increasing demand for food and health services, the country is now expected to develop new sets of ideas that could alleviate the current standing of the country, especially to our education system. Since face-toface classes are strictly prohibited, the education sector is considering the use of alternative learning modalities, especially the use of online platforms as a way of delivering their services to every student. Some schools and universities have already started using applications such as Zoom, Edmodo, Google Classroom, and Messenger to conduct their online classes since the start of lockdown. These tools play a huge role in the process of learning of every student even without personal and face-to-face interaction with their teachers.

Last June, a viral Facebook post by Mico Tan spread like wildfire. The post featured a boy and his grandmother spotted at SM Muntinlupa checking out their newly bought cellphone. According to the Facebook post, Lola Emma, a vegetable vendor, earns around 200 to 300 pesos a day and this hard earned money is then divided into their everyday expenses. Unfortunately, there were some days when she didn't earn anything at all. She saved up money to buy her grandson a phone to be used in his online classes despite the fact that her earnings were barely enough for their survival. This is a sad reality that most Filipinos are facing today; they have to juggle between choosing whether to prioritize solutions for the new normal education system or buying basic necessities and health essentials just to survive in these trying times.

This coming academic year, online classes have become the ultimate solution to deliver quality education. In order for the students to survive this new normal education system, each of them must have a laptop or a personal computer, and a strong and stable internet connection. Institutions must be aware that their students are not of the same level on the socioeconomic spectrum. Some of them are from well-off families, others are from the middle class, and the rest are from low-income earners. This only means that not all students are fortunate enough to have these gadgets and materials that would suffice their needs for their education. While some are busy worrying for their food to eat and basically how to survive, many will be forced to find ways to keep up with the new education system.

On a survey conducted by the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila Supreme Student Council (PLM SSC) last March 14-17, almost half or 47.23% (2,258) of their student respondents do not have internet connection and/or have problems with internet stability. Furthermore, the Department of Information and Communications Technology also revealed on Keith Kendrick DIONISIO

their 2019 National ICT Household Survey that only 15.7% of the interviewed households have access to the internet at home. This is a clear manifestation that this new system would just widen the gap of the country’s digital divide, leaving the poor and marginalized sector behind. It is also an affront to every person’s right to accessible education as stated in Article 26 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

One of the worst things that could be brought by this system would be the increase in the number of outof-school youth in the country. Since the new normal education system highly depends on electronic devices and the internet, students who are not financially stable will eventually prefer to stop their studies. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the country has a whopping 3.6 million out of school children and youth and 17.9% of those have stopped because of the high cost of education and other financial concerns. This already huge number could eventually increase due to online learning.

While the intention of using an online platform to continue the learning process of students is good and is somehow attainable to some, it is just unfair to those students who are also willing to learn and continue their studies but do not have the privilege of having enough resources. The best thing to do now is to find solutions that will benefit each student regardless of their socio-economic status. Various groups from schools nationwide, like Samahan ng Progresibong Kabataan (SPARK), strongly advocate for academic freeze, which is “the most humane option” in the current circumstance. Academic freeze means suspending all classes including online and offline classes that will ensure that no students will be left behind.

47.23% or 2, 258

of the student respodents of Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila do not have internet connection and/ or have problems with internet stability.

Source: PLM Supreme Student Council New normal education: Only for the privileged

BY THE NUMBERS

17.9%

of those have stopped because of the high cost of education and other financial concerns..

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

15.7%

of the interviewed households in the country have access to the internet at home.

Source: 2019 National ICT Household Survey