The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated Latin America’s mental health crisis. Researchers are now using online tools to detect and treat these problems among local students.
a UNICEF research 27% of young people in the Americas reported symptoms of anxiety and 15% reported symptoms of depression, with one-third of them citing economic conditions as their main trigger in these states.
Lorena Cudris Torresfull professor De la Costa University in BarranquillaColombia supports the development of a cross-border project called “.Yo puedo centilme bien (I Can Feel Good),” she explains. It is a web-based method for detecting and treating common anxiety and depressive symptoms and was tested on undergraduate students aged 18 and older at seven universities in Colombia and Mexico. . Significant anxiety and/or depression.
Cudris-Torres is a co-author of the following books: recent papers in international journal JAMA Psychiatry This study found that internet-based, self-guided cognitive-behavioral therapy (i-CBT) had similar or better effects on depression than similar treatments that required guidance from a mental health professional. I have found it to be effective (but not for anxiety).
“In the two years since the project was implemented, 3,002 students have participated, with satisfaction rates of 92% for guided i-CBT treatment and 89% for self-administered i-CBT treatment,” said Cudris-Torres. He said and added: These results show that it is possible to find ways to tailor treatment to students’ profiles.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach. Online psychological interventions do not replace psychologists, but they allow us to expand and expand the impact of psychological knowledge on people’s well-being,” she says. .
Professor Cudris Torres said the project was led by the Ramon de la Fuente Muñiz Institute, Mexico’s National Institute of Mental Health, in collaboration with Harvard University and universities in Mexico and Colombia, and was funded by the US National Institute of Mental Health. The company explains that it is a cross-border initiative that was carried out in response to donations.
inspired by her father
Cudris Torres was born in the city of Chimichagua, in the state of Cesar, in rural northern Colombia.
“During my elementary and high school education, the development of the subject of social sciences allowed me to learn about social realities in various situations, which led to my interest in studying human behavior,” she says. says. In addition to my teachers who have been such an inspiration to me, watching my girlfriend’s father go to work at a hospital every day inspired me to pursue my calling to serve the medical field. ”
Mr. Cudris-Torres later studied psychology at Universidad Antonio Nariño in Colombia, specialized in public management at Universidad Santander, and earned a doctorate in educational sciences from Universidad de Cuauhtemoc in Mexico.
Professor Kudris-Torres said scientists from the Global South have a privileged perspective on analyzing social issues that is different from scientists in other parts of the world because they are part of the context and He says it’s because he understands the worldview and way of looking at things. Lifestyles that influence the behavior and attitudes of people living in the Global South.
“I will discuss the specific social and cultural realities of Latin America related to the knowledge and use of modern information and communication technologies to solve social problems in a region where there are precisely major deficiencies in access and use of technology. “,” she says.
Online mental health intervention
Elsewhere in the Global South, researchers are considering other online mental health interventions.
Indonesian researcher Sundarsan (Sandy) Onye is not only looking at how Google Adwords can be used to help people in need of mental health support, but also using his family history as a driving force. , is also on a mission to raise awareness about the importance of mental health and wellness. Scientific research in Indonesia.
Recently, Onye was part of a team that successfully integrated suicide prevention into Indonesia’s health law in 2023, making it the first low- and middle-income country to do so.
Oney, a researcher at the Black Dog Research Institute at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, says his passion for mental health research, and by extension open science, isn’t born out of innate curiosity.
“I developed depression when I was in junior high school, but at that time I had never even heard of the word depression,” he says.
After recovering with the support of a group of friends in his church community, Oney dedicated his life to improving the lives and mental health of others who helped him.
