---

Tuesday, July 27, 2021 | 18:34 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—“Each individual needs to develop inner peace and quiet to maintain mental health in the pandemic,” said psychologist Sitti Evangeline Imelda Suaidy at a socialization on “Improving Mental Health Amid Pandemic” for constitutional justices and employees of the Registrar’s Office and the Secretariat General of the Constitutional Court. The event took place on Tuesday, July 27, 2021.

Chief Justice Anwar Usman, Deputy Chief Justice Aswanto, the other seven constitutional justices, structural and functional officials, and employees of the Constitutional Court attended the event virtually from their residences. The psychology lecturer of Syarif Hidayatullah University of Jakarta encouraged the participants to strengthen their mental health by improving fortitude. Before going more into her presentation, she explained the definition of mental according to WHO. Mental health means a state of well-being, being able to recognize one’s potential, to face everyday pressures, and to contribute to one’s social environment. All this, she said, could be less than ideal amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Therefore, assess ourselves, for example, whether we’re still aware of our physical potential, our vulnerabilities, or any part of the body that feels discomfort,” she said.

Fortitude

Evangeline said that. amid the pandemic, one must be aware of how far they can hang on, acknowledge their issues, and overcome them. Any anxiety that emerges these days is a normal part of life that can in fact help one prepare for things. However, she reminded that it was necessary to recognize whether it increased or was overwhelming. When anxiety is no longer under control, it is imperative that one seek professional help.

She then talked about responses to the pandemic—fear of infection, fear of social isolation, fear of loss, helplessness, and fear of re-infection among those who had been infected. Some of the common reactions include physical reactions such as headache and cold sweat, and emotional reactions such as anxiety. Negative reactions may be reflected in behaviors such as withdrawing from social interaction and getting easily provoked.

“Therefore, simple gestures such as sharing news with one’s circle can help open oneself to reinforcement from others. It is necessary to create patterns of social relations in our smallest units to strengthen each other,” she advised.

Managing the Mind

Managing the mind to stay positive and healthy is a must in order to overcome distortions—distracting thoughts that take many forms—in the face of a pandemic or other uncomfortable situations that interfere with mental health. Evangeline asked that each individual recognize this distortion, one of the ways is by using the Socratic question.

“Each individual can ask questions such as: Are there facts that support these thoughts? Are there alternative explanations for the situation? What is the worst that could happen and how to overcome it? What will happen if I believe in those thoughts? If my friends were in the same situation, what would I tell them? Do I need to take actions to overcome it?” she said.

Those questions, she added, would distract one from only focusing on illness and negative thoughts that would eat away at oneself at a time of weakness.

“After doing his, we need to have the basic self-healing skills by improving breathing techniques. It will train our body to be stronger because a way to improve physical and mental health is by maintaining physical, emotional, and mental balance and by making ourselves feel good and healthy. The key to facing this pandemic is routine sleep, time management on resting and working, as well as management of the mind to balance things out,” Evangeline explained.

Building Mental Health

Meanwhile, Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah in his report said that it was important that the entire family of the Constitutional Court receive information on mental health to face the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We, both the healthy and the ill, need to maintain mental health. We need to manage our mental state because there is no guarantee that after recovering from COVID-19 we will be free from it completely. It might infect us several times. However, the vaccine that we have received can reduce the risk of death, and [this fact] can help strengthen our mental state,” he said.

Guntur also expressed hope that even if the pandemic was inevitable, the Constitutional Court staff could manage their mental health and avoid trauma. The socialization, which was initiated by the Human Resources and Organization Bureau, was expected to give information and insight on mental health and to help the staff in facing the pandemic in good mental and spiritual health.

Writer        : Sri Pujianti
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 7/28/2021 08:25 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian version, the Indonesian version will prevail.

---