Mental health has an important role as well as physical health, as the saying goes that “in a healthy body there is a strong soul”. Mental health has become a topic that is widely discussed during the COVID-19 pandemic because it can increase the mental health problems of adolescents, including college students. According to UNICEF, the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted the movement of adolescents, thereby reducing the social interaction of adolescents. This causes teenagers to feel isolated and miss good moments in their lives. As prospective pharmacists, pharmacy students are expected to become social agents who can provide understanding to the public about the importance of preventing mental health problems. This also applies to oneself as a pharmacy student during this Pandemic. On the basis of the importance of understanding related to mental health, the Pharmacy Study Program held a guest lecture entitled “student mental health” which was filled by apt. Andi Hermansyah, S.Farm., M.Sc., Ph.D. which was successfully held on Saturday, October 1, 2022.
Mental health is a condition free of mental disorders or mental disabilities and is objective, even physically healthy people can experience mental health. There is a wide variety of manifestations of mental disorders: anxious disorders; depressive disorders; bipolar disorder; psychotic disorders/ complex schizophrenia to delusions, labile, easily agitated, and withdrawn. full of suspicion of a thing and someone.
Based on research, at least 25% of pharmacy students have advanced depression. Studying the character of pharmacy students is considered important to be able to identify the mental health that can be experienced by pharmacy students. The majority of pharmacy students have the following characteristics:
- Pharmacy students have a high level of stress caused by the long journey in achieving graduation and the large amount of material that is memorized
- Pharmacy students are fewer male students, so discussions are often ineffective because the number of women dominating increases the likelihood of small groups emerging
- Typical pharmacy students are careful because expensive practicum tools make students reluctant
- Pharmacy students are always grateful for the high level of difficulty to get good grades
- Have a strong mentality, a high level of patience and dedication to the work
- Every pharmacy student is educated to be able to become a 10 star pharmacist so that they must have high resilience
There are several things that can cause mental health disorders:
- Family: broken home/ broken family, married, have children, have new family members, family resistance, communication is hampered, etc.
- Financial/economic: affected by the pandemic, layoffs, studying while working, having fun enjoying money, etc.
- Romance: falling in love, love being rejected, not having got a mate, etc.
- Lazy/procrastination: addicted to online games, addicted to watching movies (drakor), many reasons/ like to lie, dealing with the wrong, etc.
To address mental health, the following can be done:
- Spiritual approach (faith)
- Improvement of physical quality
- Connect with social support, maintain communication
- Have a purpose in life
- Consult a professional
Before closing the material, Mr. Andi as a resource person gave the essence that “Problems / exams in life are a natural thing. It becomes unnatural when addressed excessively or without a handle”
