POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS AND GROWTH DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

From the emergence of Covid-19, humanity had to face changes in which the health and life of itself and loved ones were put at stake. This historical fact translated into a traumatic situation worldwide that affected issues related to mental health. In this work, the effects of the pandemic in different sectors of society will be surveyed, both the adverse effects —such as post-traumatic stress— and the possible positive consequences that the fact of going through a situation of these characteristics can generate in people —the growth post-traumatic—. With this objective, a theoretical investigation was carried out on articles in scientific databases. They showed that there are factors associated with developing post-traumatic stress such as low social support, working in unsafe places with great workload, social disconnection, losing a loved one, having economic losses, anxiety and psychiatric history; however, there are also factors that predispose people to experience post-traumatic growth, such as receiving support from friends and family, compassion and social security, having positive beliefs and exercising deliberate rumination. The importance of these findings lies in the possibility of alleviating the negative consequences of the traumatic situations generated by the pandemic and of generating conditions that favor the positive ones.