TRAUMA CAUSED BY THE MODERN PANDEMIA

Abstract

The appearance of the coronavirus (Corona 19) in 2019 has literally caused putting our routines on holdor even stopping our lives. The first images and videos which went viral were as they were scenes from some sci-fifilm. Firstly, it took a certain amount of time until people of different nations grasped the information, accept it andstarted behaving according to officials’ advices. Then, some nations behavior was responsible and disciplinaryopposite to others whose behavior led to serious consequences. Later, the trauma appeared. The Greeks used theword trauma for "wound". The first known use of trauma was circa 1693 and in the past, it was only associatedwith an injury, as a wound, to living tissue caused by an extrinsic agent. In the past, people used this term forparticular physical injuries, but nowadays it is also used when one refers to emotional wounds. Theterm psychiatry was first coined by the German physician Johann Christian Reil in 1808 and literally means the'medical treatment of the soul'. As a result of the introducing of psychiatry and prioritizing the mental healthtoday we are aware that a certain traumatic event can leave psychological symptoms after a considerabletime, although the physical injuries have healed. By developing of medicine people in the 20th centurybecame more and more informed that a person’s mental health is very important. Unfortunately , humanbeings are first and foremost emotional creatures. The first known use of emotion was in 1579 and, as a term,was used much earlier than trauma and it has a substantial influence on the cognitive processes in humans, includingperception, memory and reasoning, attention and learning, and even problem solving. Therefore, emotions help usto communicate with others, build better relationships etc. As humans, we are exposed to all kinds of stress on adaily basis. It can be defined as any type of change that causes emotional, physical or psychological strain. Someof us react, but some of us don't; some are tense, some are more relaxed, and yet each of us deals with stressdifferently. Since it has been proven that many diseases are stress-related people started to work on reducingstress so as to preserve and improve their mental health. It is not preferable to ignore and minimize theimportance, presence and reactions of stress since an extreme stress can lead to trauma. The psychologicalreaction to emotional trauma now has a recognized name: post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. Hence isit from extreme stress, a loss of a partner, a death of family member, natural disaster, wartime combat, or sexual orphysical abuse, its symptoms include anxiety, flashbacks, depression, and recurring nightmares. The PTSDcan also occur after an extremely long and stressful event, such as pandemic, and it reflects on allpopulation – from teenagers to elderly. The fact that it is a collective matter is extremely worrying. And canyou imagine, only three years ago we only believed that one’s mental health is a state of well-being andmajor factor for quality life.