{"id":165452,"date":"2024-10-11T17:45:33","date_gmt":"2024-10-11T23:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/?p=165452"},"modified":"2024-12-10T17:00:01","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T23:00:01","slug":"online-therapy-telemedicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tecscience.tec.mx\/en\/health\/online-therapy-telemedicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Online Therapy as Effective as In-Person Sessions? Here’s What We Know"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andrea, 26, started to feel the strain of long periods spent “alone,” without speaking to or seeing anyone during the mandatory Covid-19 lockdown in 2021. <\/strong>Living with her boyfriend, she would only have company at night when he returned home. Teleworking in the advertising industry, Andrea was attending weekly online therapy sessions and seeing a psychiatrist, but she still felt she was sinking into a depressive crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cried a lot during that time, overthought everything, and thought the only way out was either sleeping all day or suicide. Then I told myself: \u2018I better talk to someone.\u2019\u201d Andrea had previously attempted suicide, but she was aware that she didn\u2019t want things to spiral out of control. She first reached out to close friends and family, but no one answered her. So, she quickly Googled \u201cfree psychological support Mexico City\u201d <\/strong>and found a helpline<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Andrea already had professional support, the emergency phone counseling made a difference. <\/strong>She remembers talking for 45 minutes with a woman about topics unrelated to the loneliness she felt at that moment\u2014and it helped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Latin America, mental health disorders surged by 20% to 40%<\/strong>, according to 2020 figures from the World Health Organization (WHO), reflecting the pandemic\u2019s impact on mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pandemic also worsened depressive disorders<\/strong>, the most common psychiatric condition, which is one of the leading causes of disability globally and a major contributor to the global disease burden, according to a study<\/a> on depression and anxiety disorders across 204 countries in 2020, driven by the pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Classification of Diseases defines Major Depressive Disorder <\/a>(MDD) as a complex mental health condition characterized by persistently low mood, loss of interest or pleasure in activities, reduced energy<\/strong>, changes in appetite or weight, altered sleep patterns, difficulty concentrating, feelings of worthlessness or guilt, and recurring thoughts of death or suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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