The global is becoming, and to stay on its feet, local wisdom is needed in a global context.
The global is becoming, and to stay on its feet, local wisdom is needed in a global context.
We all know the physical effect of Covid-19, but what effect does this deadly virus have on our intellectual health?In this interview, BizNews founder Alec Hogg talks to Dr. Seranne Motilal, Clinical Wellness Specialist at Discovery Vitality, on the negative has the effects that living during a pandemic can have on us and those around us. – Jarryd Neves
Dr. Seranne Motilal is with us. She is a Clinical Wellness Specialist at Vitality. We’ve already had a conversation, Seranne, about intellectual fitness, and we’ve received a lot of engaging feedback as a result. I wonder if intellectual aptitude is starting to play a role. the mainstream, given the demanding situations we are seeing with Covid-19.
Yes, definitely. I think that initially – especially in the first waves of the pandemic – we were seeing a lot of the physical side. Symptoms and prognosis were a focus, and treatment diagnosis. Those things are still very important. But what we’re encountering a lot more now is anxiety, stigma, dealing with grief, loss and depression. Unfortunately, all of these factors are sort of coming together at the same point. At the moment, mental health is very topical. A lot of people are talking about it or experiencing some mental health fallout, whether themselves or with friends or family. I think it’s just a crucial point to have support available to more people.
It’s extraordinary. If you think of the numbers of people who are going to lose their jobs or already have. The research tells us it’s three million people in a country of South Africa’s size with high unemployment already. It’s going to put a lot of people under additional pressure from a mental health perspective as well.
Yes, it’s devastating. I think communicating about this topic (from the beginning it’s something that maybe I’d like to say is a warning) the loss of tasks has a lot of monetary consequences and there are a lot of external points related to it. I guess I’m going to communicate a little bit more about the aspects of intellectual fitness. But that doesn’t mean that the monetary burdens and obligations that weigh on us are still there, still genuine and very present. I think in the face of task losses and, as you commented, we’re already a country that has the highest unemployment rates, and now, to see this kind of double whammy of the Covid-19 effect is devastating and I think it goes beyond just wasting tasks on your work.
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Your job can offer a structure, a social outlet. It can maybe add a little bit of purpose and meaning to life. Losing those aspects can have quite an effect on people. People might start questioning their identities. You’ve experienced a bit of grief or loss. There’s heightened levels of anxiety, thinking about what the future might hold. All of this comes together and can create quite a difficult situation to go through, even in the mental health side of things.
The only thing I would really like to point out, however, is that this cause and the loss of tasks due to this economic stress can actually make us worse and cause us to start having physical and intellectual fitness symptoms, whether they are similar to anxiety, depression or strain. It is very important to be aware of this and ask for additional help when necessary. If your sleep is affected, if your temperament is affected, if your social relationships are affected. Talk and hang out with the other people around you. Contact the structures. This is really important, because this cumulative effect can really affect you. As you enter this era and start looking for a task, you must be in a smart area intellectually and physically.
“Your paintings can provide structure, a social outlet. Maybe they can bring a little purpose and life to the table. The loss of those aspects can have a huge effect on people.
Have you got anything at Vitality that helps people? I’m just thinking now. You’ve got three million people losing their jobs, according to the research. Many of them single black woman. Where are they going to get their wherewithal with no job and a household to look after, to find a professional? A psychologist or psychiatrist? Presumably, that will be pretty tough for them.
That’s a great question. The one thing that I’d like to start with is the Vitality mental well-being online offering that we have at the moment. It’s completely accessible to everyone. There’s a lot of resources that offer psychoeducation. So learning more about these topics – depression, anxiety, stress, resilience – but also have a lot of tools and skills. So there’s meditative prodive, there’s guided breathing, there’s yoga. There’s a lot of activities that you can do that have shown to have a good impact on mental well-being. Just to add to some of the stress and things that we’re going through, it’s really important that especially in the immediate outset of a job loss – whether it’s yourself or a friend or family member – that there are a lot of difficult emotions that someone can experience. Those are normal and to be expected.
It’s important to cut ourselves slack, understand that, go through that and feel those things. But then when we can, to try and focus on the things that we can control, maintaining a routine, trying to exercise, eating healthily, trying to make sure we keep a sleep routine.
Avoid alcohol, substances, and things that can influence the way we feel and act. Part of it, you know, like I said, is exercising when we can, maybe reading when we can, someone more qualified will explain how to get it. How do you prepare for the task you are looking for in a Covid-19 world?
But I try to focus on the things that are within our control, because there are a lot of things that are not in our control right now. The last thing I can probably communicate a little bit about, and this is especially for Vitality members; However, taking your intellectual wellness tests can be a first step to simply taking a look and understanding a little more about what we’re going through. At that point, what we’re going through and we’re also learning about the facets of intellectual health, the conditions, and the things you can do to get more assistance and more support.
“It’s letting go. “
Are those reviews capable of giving you a rating?I’ll tell you why; I went to see a doctor and one of the questions he asked me was, “On a scale of 0 to ten, where would you place your blood pressure level?I wasn’t quite sure. But is there a way to quantify this kind of thing??
Yes, that’s why we use clinically validated tests. So, those tests pose a series of queries and have been shown to correlate highly with diagnoses of depression, anxiety, or give you an indication of your point of resilience, your point of tension, and whether your sleep is adequate. That sort of thing. That’s why we take those validated studies and equipment and offer them to members so they can approve them. Each query possibly causes something in you that you literally had no idea about before. But together, those queries are loaded to give you a smart or decent indication of what you’re experiencing right now.
It’s hard to take an individual question, like “what is your stress level at the moment?” Sometimes it’s nice to break it down, go through it in different levels. You know, stress can be insidious, right? It can affect different parts of your life that you might not even realise.
Back pain, headaches, or disturbed sleep patterns may be related to sleep and you may not be able to fix it. Obviously, most of the time, tension isn’t just present. It’s simply something that’s simmering, and you don’t realize that those rising levels are the ones that most commonly weigh on your shoulders. That’s why those tests can literally help. It provides you with that information, can help you think, and just give you more insight into what you might be experiencing right now.
So there is assistance and it is a smart concept at any time. But when is it mandatory? In other words, when would you know you’re in trouble? What are the caution signs?
That’s a great thing to talk about. So it’s a complicated question because each of us has a different normal. I think just as a very base, it’s the change in the way that you feel and act. This could be a change in the function at home or with relationships or with your mood. If you start to just feel not motivated, if your sleep is changing. If your appetite is changing. If you’re feeling helpless or hopeless. If you’ve had this constant sort of low-mood or high-worry levels, high-anxiety levels, can’t seem to be still or you’re constantly thinking of different things.
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All those little things get charged and it’s really important to be aware of that and then reach out to other people and get help. Whether you’re a member of a family circle who can talk to a health professional or your GP, psychologist or psychiatrist, the resources are there. SADAC (South African Depression and Anxiety Group) is a wonderful organization that has a 24-hour call center and you can call and check to get that help, while still being confidential.
I just think the most important thing is that you don’t feel anymore, that you feel like you can’t get rid of it, that you do a meaningful replacement of your habit with your friends or family. These are the first signs of caution. This is where I would highly recommend getting extra help, by consulting a doctor. This can be beneficial.
So if you’re smart, if you’re in a bad mood, if you’re not feeling focused and balanced, it’s not your fault. We’ve been going through an incredibly stressful time lately. If you’re a Discovery or Vitality member, visit the site and take the assessment and it will probably point you in the right direction.
Definitely, and just to inspire other people to get out, to talk about this, to get that help, because it exists and it can help you get through a tough time if you go through it.
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