As part of Women's Month, PVP looked into the mental health of our women workforce from our data on The State of Mental Health of the Philippine Workforce During the Covid 19 Pandemic.
During the first 2 years into the pandemic, our data shows that 79% of the women who took our eWellnessMetre survey experience normal stress levels. On the other hand, 52% of the women participants experience normal anxiety levels. Lastly, 63% of the women participants have normal depression levels. In contrast, 12% of the women participants have critical stress levels (moderate to extremely severe), 29% have critical anxiety levels, and 22% have critical depression levels. The effect of the pandemic could be seen through the anxiety and depression numbers as they are at flag-up levels.
Just a recap, stress is difficulty relaxing, nervous arousal, and being easily upset/agitated, irritable/over-reactive and impatient. Anxiety is autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety, and subjective experience of anxious affect. It is a negative mood state characterized by bodily symptoms of physical tension. Depression is hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest/involvement, etc.
PVP also looked into the predictive analytics data of the women participants. It showed that the following different activities/set-up will increase the likelihood of being anxious and depressed.
Given these data on Anxiety, it could be seen that those living with siblings and whose age is between 20 to 30 are more likely to be anxious. Additionally, it’s important to lessen the social media consumption or usage to avoid having critical anxiety levels.
As for the Depression data, those living with siblings are also more likely to be depressed. Spending time on reading books/magazines and social media should also be limited to avoid having critical levels of depression.
When asked about the things that make the women participants stressed out, anxious, or depressed, most of the women participants mentioned the pandemic/covid, work, family, financial, health, and situation. As we think about it, women have been greatly impacted by the pandemic since the majority are also doing household chores and taking care of the family while also working from home or working onsite. If you are feeling that something is not right or you feel that something is bothering you but cannot distinguish what it is, you might want to read our article on dealing with mental health issues.
Acknowledge what you are currently feeling and going through. Ladies, if you feel like you have too much on your plate and feel like you are so tired of everything, it’s okay to not to be okay. And let’s open our ears and extend our shoulders to one another to strive through this battle. Abante, Babae!
