Mental health during corona: new tech and good connections

The How are you Slovakia? survey (conducted by Seesame with MNFORCE and the Slovak Academy of Sciences) examined the pandemic’s impact on mental health. The results red-flagged young people’s well-being. A worrying 20% of respondents (under 39 years of age) revealed feelings of depression always or often. In the older generation (over 60) this figure is 14%. Those who feel most threatened by the epidemic feel the worst.

Hence our interest in mental health: we have already organized two talk shows with the Slovak Psychiatric Society. With Janssen, augmented reality and an avatar allowed us to show how a patient with depression sees the world. And our long-term cooperation with the NO MORE STIGMA civic association enabled us to prepare a programme for the large employer Henkel Slovensko. We also offered our own employees workshops and personal counselling with a psychotherapist during the corona crisis.

Here are a few handy tips for approaching this issue:

• Watch videos of the original talk shows, , which we prepared with leading Slovak psychiatrists and well-known moderator Mišo Sabo. In this video, you’ll find out everything you need to know from a psychiatrist:
  BEZHLAVO – Online talk show with Michal Sabo and mental health professionals
• And if you’re wondering about the difference between depression and melancholy, you’ll find the answer in this video:BEZ DEPRESIE – Online talk show about mental health
• Non-traditional technologies can also be useful for serious topics: the filters we know from Facebook mainly used for entertainment – such as drawing funny faces – can also be used for meaningful messages. See how we’ve shown the latest data on depression with augmented reality filters, and how we’ve shown what a depressed patient is experiencing with an avatar .  

• Connect with informed experts: even large companies know how to think innovatively to benefit their employees. By bringing NO MORE STIGMA’s psychiatrists and psychotherapists together with our client Henkel Slovensko, we prepared talk shows for hundreds of employees to watch. With an open question and answer session during the live broadcasts. They found out how to cope with current higher levels of stress, relationship issues, and how to fight addictions. The video recordings are great, because they enable employees to watch videos whenever they like.

• A helping hand for employees: it’s better to admit this is a tough time for us all, than to silently soldier on. None of us is operating at 100% and we’re all feeling the heat. That’s why Seesame has invited a renowned psychotherapist to support our team – to provide one-to-one counselling and practical workshops. 

This unpredictable time raises more questions than answers. But with realistic expectations and strong connections, we’ll get through this – and in good mental health too. We’d be delighted if you join us as a mental health ambassador.