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Patient navigator 03:
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Intervention date: 07/26/2022. Record: via email. |
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Demand/problem situation:
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Message received after intervention 03 (patient navigator’s speech):
Question 1: […] quite. I was already in a period of increased stress and anxiety, and the changes needed to accommodate the reality of the pandemic took away several of the things that helped me deal with this overload, mainly the separation of a living and working environment, limits on schedules and the free possibility to choose where to go. Question 2: […] quite. I am already naturally stress-prone, and with the addition of all the stressors that came with the pandemic and not being able to do a lot of the things I used to deal with stress made the situation worse, the moments of decompression decreased. Question 3: […] I have been forcing myself to have a definite and regular sleep schedule. Decreases the use of stimulants (caffeine, taurine…), reduces the number of hours of work per day, invests a lot in hobbies that can be done from home. Question 4: […] in general, so much for the expectation that, as a man, I have to fend for myself and be able to get by without asking for much help. Question 5: […] I feel that I have been greatly affected, mainly by the flood of information, and being constantly aware of certain things. Not only too much news (mostly bad) about COVID, but having to remember the subject for all activities and needing to police myself led to a lot of stress and anxiety when observing others’ attitudes and behaviors. I started to get extremely irritated and angry at seeing people not respecting protocols and using proven ineffective methods of prevention, to the point of losing my good mood for the day if I encountered a case of this type. |
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Support guidelines:
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1. Do you think the context of the pandemic interfered with your mental health? if so, how?
Guidance 1.1: we are very sorry that this happened to you, and we would like to say that most of us had to face the new reality of working and living in the same space, controlling, as much as possible, our energy expenditure and the domestic environment. We hope that you have already managed to establish boundaries between the two worlds of “personal life” and that of “professional life”; if not, we advise you to try to create a routine, in an extraordinary life agenda, which can be created by reading the book “The power of action”, as it is a reading that encourages the performance of a series of exercises that will help you manage your time, organizing it for each activity of interest. We also suggest that you create different environments in your own home and avoid sleeping in the same room you use for work; also, practice meditation and guided imagery, join support groups, adopt a pet, perform psychotherapy with specialist professionals who work with cognitive-behavioral therapy, receive visitors, cook, move furniture a little and practice physical activities guided by video classes of exercises using your own body weight and dancing, which can help you control stress, anxiety and overload as well as reduce the triggers that lead you to these undesirable feelings. Having a corner to practice relaxation and self-knowledge activities with aromas to your liking, through incense or aromatic diffusers, is one more option that we can suggest as a technique to calm and reduce anxiety. |
2. Have you been feeling affected by stress in this pandemic moment? If yes, tell me more about it.
Guidance 2.1: dealing with situations of stress overload ends up making us more susceptible to situations of anger, and it is up to us to know how to manage it and reduce the anxiety itself. We know that stressing out is not easy, but with effort, it becomes possible. We will try the best to help you! We advise you to try to create these moments of “decompression” in your daily life, reserving at least 10 minutes to listen to music of your choice that calms you down and that you enjoy, in addition to some reading (magazines, newspapers or books) that interests you and/or watching that series or movie that makes you feel good. Taking time for yourself is essential, don’t forget that. Additionally, we suggest you look for emotional support; practice actions that promote resilience, such as sharing the moments when you need to make important decisions in your life with loved ones (friends, family or neighbors with whom you have closeness and a certain intimacy), including asking for advice from older people who have more experience with life, increasingly strengthening your support system; take care of the environment in which you sleep so that it can be a pleasant place to have restful and regular sleep; avoid the abuse of alcohol; do not use illicit drugs; try to maintain a healthy diet (avoid processed and industrialized foods, give preference to legumes, fruits, vegetables, fibers and a controlled consumption of meat, giving preference to lean and white meat); and, finally, go for walks with light runs in open, airy places and close to nature. |
3. What strategies have you used to deal with stress?
Guidance 3.1: very good, congratulations! These actions that you report make us very happy, because we understand that you are willing to improve your self-care, and this will generate good results for a self-modification of habits that can harm you, such as reducing the consumption of stimulants can improve your sleep. It’s good to know that you already carry out activities to face some perceived lack of feeling of comfort, relief or even transcendence in the physical, psycho-spiritual, environmental, cultural and social dimensions. Therefore, through activities for yourself, you will help yourself to achieve goals that will lead to improved and strengthened health. We advise you to continue like this, reducing stimulating drinks, resting and having fun. We would add (because it was not commented) that you invite friends to your house to have fun and talk with them, because good conversations are positive in our lives. We suggest, in addition to these activities and along with the actions you have already developed, that you attribute yourself to your own merit; control your energy expenditures; try to maintain a constant mood; take relaxing baths; facilitate for self-responsibility to be effective; and practice activities that raise your self-esteem and work on your spirituality, regardless of your belief or religion, and, of course, it’s always good to remember to do things that make you happy. |
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Support guidelines:
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4. Do you realize if being a man puts you in a problematic situation that affects your mental health? If yes, tell me more about it.
Guidance 4.1: unfortunately, this is still very present. We advise you to try not to pay too much attention to these adverse opinions. If you feel the need for something, seek help, without worrying about what others think. We understand that we men have carried this burden since the dawn of civilization, that men need to be the sole providers of the home and that, otherwise, society’s judgments begin to affect us, but we need to support each other to positively face these negative perceptions about our own worth in response to a current situation, also understanding that we do not need to be in control of every situation in our lives and that this cannot leave us feeling powerless. On the contrary, we need to build a self-awareness that we have predetermined roles for ourselves and that all our actions can generate a result in a meaningful way. In this way, you will be able to generate answers capable of putting into practice your chosen ethical and moral decisions and actions. For this, we suggest that you determine, as much as you can, what your true role is as a person in the environment you live in (clarify to yourself what your values are); value socializing with friends and family; build concrete and reciprocal relationships; practice art therapy and self-responsibility, as it will help you maintain balanced self-esteem; be self-effective when practicing activities of assertiveness and promoting hope for a better future; create alternatives that will help you, in case you need to face situations of grief (moments of sadness, hurt and maybe you feel sorry for something or someone); tell the truth and practice forgiveness when necessary; forgive; also practice memory therapy guided by a specialized professional. |
5. During the pandemic, very common situations, such as social isolation, excessive information about COVID, loss of close people and others that you may have experienced, have had an impact on men’s mental health. Do you feel affected by any of these situations? Tell us more about it.
Guidance 5.1: we know that these moments make us very irritated and angry, because we can’t understand very well if people behave that way or if they really don’t have access to true information. However, we can help you to develop skills to deal with these stressors and choose, appropriately, your responses and behavior in the face of these situations using the available resources. Therefore, we are here to advise you, encourage you to recognize, express and relieve your feelings of anxiety, anger or sadness in an adaptive and non-violent way, having already a positive point, which is the fact that you know the source of your anger, and that’s great! We suggest that you do not give too much importance and limit yourself to having access to these frustrating situations. Here, we suggest that you practice activities that will help you to adjust to intense emotions, such as distracting yourself, appreciating and expressing what is funny and amusing, in order to establish relationships, relieve tension and release anger. Also, perform deep breathing exercises and keep a journal so that it is possible to control your ideas at that moment of peak anger and modify your behavior. Lastly, perform progressive muscle relaxation exercises. |
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Expected results:
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It is hoped that this plan will encourage you to cope better in situations that cause you stress, anxiety and anger. We also hope to help you better understand your role as a human being and that you can count on people who have mutual affection and esteem for you and you for them. |
*This care plan was developed by undergraduate nursing and physical therapy students, supervised by four nurses with master’s and doctoral degrees. A social worker and a psychologist were consulted.
Project approved by the Research Ethics Committee, under Opinion CAAE 32889420.9.0000.5531 and 4.087.611.
School of Nursing - Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA). R. Basílio da Gama, 241 - Canela, Salvador - BA, 40231-300. |
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