The study, which was carried out by the Üsküdar University Department of Sociology in order to evaluate the second wave effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, which is effective all over the world, drew attention with its interesting results. The research, the first of which was carried out in April 2020, is also important in terms of comparing the effects of that period. The general anxiety level, which was at the level of 60 in April 2020, decreased to 48 due to the normalization in the summer months and only increased to the level of 59 after the second wave.
While 60 of the participants stated that their biggest fear about the pandemic was losing their loved ones, 48 stated that they were worried about having health problems. The rate of those who always and very often feel alone increased from 19 before the pandemic to 30 after the second wave. The age group in which the feeling of loneliness is most intense was determined as 25 years old and below, and the rate increased to 44 among young people, which was well above the average of Turkey. While our consumption of tea, coffee and snacks increases; The song that best reflects our mood regarding the pandemic was Mümin Sarıkaya’s “I’m Tired Hayat”.
Üsküdar University Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the feeling of love and trust in the society is important and said, “These feelings are the most important feelings that hold the society together. It is important to be able to revive these feelings in the society,” he said. Tarhan also pointed out the importance of understanding the youth, noting that the group that experienced the feeling of loneliness the most during this period was the youth. Tarhan pointed out that the bad world syndrome, which has been on the agenda in recent years, will accelerate in the Covid-19 period.
Üsküdar University Sociology Department Lecturer Dr. Tuğba Aydın Öztürk, Method Research Company Project Director Hale Aslı Kılıç and Marketing Specialist Şeyda Aydın. Turkey After the Wave Research’ has been concluded.
The research, which was conducted with 3,500 participants aged 18 and over, living in 56 cities of Turkey during January 2021, aimed to understand the effects of the pandemic, especially after the second wave.
Üsküdar University Advisor to the Rector, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. In the research conducted with the consultancy of Deniz Ülke Arıboğan, many topics such as anxiety, trust in individuals, institutions and media, thoughts about the measures taken within the scope of Covid-19, positive and negative expectations about the future, vaccination studies, distance education and consumption habits are on the table. deposited. In addition, the data obtained is important in terms of presenting comparisons with the results of the ‘Life in Days with Coronavirus Research’ conducted in April 2020.
The results were shared with the public at a press conference…
The results of the research were announced at the online press conference organized by Üsküdar University. Üsküdar University Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan from the Department of Sociology, Dr. Faculty Member Tuğba Aydın Öztürk and Method Research Company Founding Partner Selçuk Kılıç attended the ceremony.
Method Research Company Co-Founder Selçuk Kılıç: “Pandemic is the crisis of the century”
Method Research Company Co-Founder Selçuk Kılıç said that this research is a study of 3,500 observations, between the ages of 18-65, organized throughout Turkey. Stating that the pandemic is the crisis of the century, Kılıç said, “It is really important because it coincides with a period when all countries are shrinking at the same time and all countries are experiencing health-related problems at the same time. While the concept of happy and unhappy, which everyone knows and we live in our own world, used to say, 6 out of 10 people were happy at the beginning of the pandemic, a year ago, in April, this figure dropped to 4 out of ten people. In other words, 6 out of 10 people are happy now, while 6 are unhappy. In the April survey, everyone thought it would be over in 5 months. Now it’s been a year and people are saying that it will be over after a year and a half. Therefore, it is necessary to continue and monitor this psychology in further research, but I can say that our unhappiness rate has increased. There is an increase in the rate of unhappiness in all groups, whether entrepreneurs, students, housewives, civil servants, workers. Everyone experiences a decline in happiness. But most of all, entrepreneurs and students draw our attention.” Stating that 3 out of every 5 people were anxious in April, Selçuk Kılıç noted that people are also worried now, but the anxiety dimension has shifted to fear.
prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “It was a guiding research with its meaningful results”
Üsküdar University Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, stating that the research draws attention with its very important results, said that it should be taken into consideration in terms of being a guide.
Noting that this research is a study that will facilitate the work of the authorities in Turkey in determining the policy regarding the pandemic and post-pandemic public health, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, “There is a saying in crises; ‘Life is like a chain, the strongest point of the chain is its weakest link.’ This pandemic period is a period of global tension and crisis. In these crises, ruptures are expected from the weakest links. This weak link varies according to the society, age group and income level of the person. These points will break. These breaks were seen in the economic crises of 1929 and 2008. The emergence of the destruction processes of Rome after a plague and Iran after the plague epidemic in the Persian Reign are events of great significance in history. The same is true in the pandemic. These sociological studies are frequently used methods in terms of data collection, especially in developed countries. As Üsküdar University, we carried out this study within our own means, together with the Method Research Company.”
prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Informing the public about vaccination should be evaluated quickly”
Drawing attention to some important points that stood out in the research, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, “For example, we see that 39 percent of people do not consider getting vaccinated. Conspiracy theories are written about the vaccine very seriously. Together with the results, we can say that these theories are still effective at a rate of 39 percent on the society side. Public awareness activities on vaccines need to be evaluated rapidly. Opinion leaders in the society need to make statements and take steps in this regard. When we consider reliability, we see that specialist physicians are mostly trusted. It can be considered as a great chance for an institution to come to the forefront by ranking second in reliability for the first time in health crisis management policies, and the society’s trust in those who implement these policies. If you trust the captain while traveling on a bus, plane or ship, you will be comfortable, if you do not, you will be constantly afraid and uneasy. Currently, high trust in health authorities and policies is important in health policies. We can say that the Scientific Committee has a great strategic impact and that it is important in terms of discussing and analyzing every issue.”
Tarhan: “It is important not to turn fear into panic and to keep it within rational limits”
Noting that one of the research results is the highest level of fear in humans, Tarhan said:
“It is very meaningful that fear comes to the fore, not only in Turkey but globally. Fear is a natural emotion that allows people to take precautions. Rational fear is helpful. Irrational fear pushes people to avoid and deteriorate their mental health. Therefore, it is important not to turn fear into panic and to keep it at a reasonable level within rational limits. For this, public awareness activities should be continued. In the post-pandemic period, there is a need for public health specialists and mental health specialists to continue to inform the society more than infectious diseases specialists. Because in the post-pandemic period, there is a serious break. It has only been one year, but there are expectations that its effect will continue for a few more years. This is risk management that should not be neglected. Fear and distress pose risks. Policy makers and decision makers related to risk management should take this situation into consideration.
Tarhan: “Thinking about family is a positive dimension”
The behavior of thinking about family more than oneself is high in our society. This is not a negative but a positive dimension. If a person is bankrupt in the family, they are helped. When there are behavioral changes, introversion or suicidal tendencies, other members of the family immediately try to help. This is the added value of our society. As this value is lost in developed countries, suicides are at the forefront. Japan has weak social bases and promotes individualization as a culture. This is the case in Northern Europe and in most developed countries. Isolation emerged under the name of individuation. The weakening of social bases is one of the three main factors in the increase of psychiatric diseases. We can clearly state these factors as the increase in expectations from life, the weakening of social bases, and the development of a consumption-oriented philosophy of life.
Tarhan: “The production-oriented life philosophy has left its place to the consumption-oriented life philosophy…”
Noting that the production-oriented life philosophy has been replaced by a consumption-oriented life philosophy in the last decade, Tarhan said, “When we question what is talked about most in the family, consumption emerges. There’s this ‘I’ll take this, I’ll wear that’ thinking and beauty fetishism. He has a fetish of self-disclosure. During this period, people felt bad because they could not consume as they wished. The decline in sales of cosmetic products also shows this. Globally, increasing unhappiness means increasing depression and mental problems.
prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan: “Psychosocial risks will increase”
Stating that 20-25 percent of the society made a choice to never leave the house in the research, Tarhan said, “Again, at the same rate, people exhibited the behavior of never entering the house. There are always 3 percent marginals in society. There are 3 percent of people with low average intelligence and 3 percent of people with average intelligence. Both are considered private groups. In intelligence tests, both ends of the bell curve are 3 percent. When we look here, we see that both ends of the bell curve are rising. This means that we will face more psychosocial risks. The perception that 71 percent of people will get worse points to what we call the bad world syndrome. The bad world syndrome, which has been on the agenda in recent years, seems to accelerate in the Covid-19 period. There are three types of reactions in bad world syndrome. Some are withdrawing and running away. Those who have the opportunity plan to flee to different places. The other mass falls into depression. These people feel that the future and life are not secure. A group of people is also getting aggressive, and crime and violence are increasing,” he said.
prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan drew attention to the young and old age group
prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan drew attention to the increasing sense of loneliness among young people and there is an increase in the rate of young people who say “I feel lonely very often”. The rate is 44 percent. This situation was most common in young people. In other people, this rate turned out to be 30 percent. We have seen older people use antidepressants for the first time in their lives. The fact that older people feel like they are useless, that their children do not visit them as before, and that they feel excluded by the society, have had a very negative impact on older people. It is necessary to review the policies for people over 60,” he said.
Tarhan: “The sense of love and trust should be strengthened in the society”
prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the feeling of love and trust in the society is important and said, “These feelings are the most important feelings that hold the society together. To be able to revive these feelings in the society, there are two concepts that we say in the family crisis. Compassion is greater than love. Because it contains unconditional love. Kindness is also greater than respect. It includes showing respect by thinking in terms of being able to talk about every problem without breaking it. If policies are determined by considering how to increase the feelings of compassion and kindness in the society, we will give the best answer to those who want to get results in a provocative way to unnecessary tensions in the society.
Tarhan: “We should care about the youth and their needs during the pandemic”
Noting that the group he cares most about in the pandemic is the youth, Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan said, “Young people are the age group closest to vulnerability at the moment. Particular attention should be paid to the 16-24 age group. This age group has three characteristics. It’s always like that at all times. This was the case in the last period of the Ottoman Empire and also in the French Revolution. If they feel excluded and unimportant, they protest. In order not to protest, they need to feel that income equality, income justice and a sense of justice without discrimination are important. This builds trust in them. The other feeling of trust is the feeling of freedom. If they feel that their freedom is not restricted, they will feel secure in their future. If there is an increase in young people who want to study abroad, this shows that their future concerns are high.”
Our biggest fear: “Losing our loved ones”
Dr. Faculty Member Tuğba Aydın Öztürk shared the results of the research. According to the results of the research, 60 of the participants stated that their biggest fear about the pandemic was losing their loved ones, while 48 stated that they were worried about having health problems. While the rate of those who are afraid of experiencing economic problems is 37; 7 of the participants stated that they think the obsession with cleaning will be in their lives for a long time.
Anxiety, which declined in the summer, rose to 59 again
The general anxiety level, which was at the level of 60 in April 2020, decreased to 48 due to the normalization in the summer months and only increased to the level of 59 after the second wave.
Anxiety level increased in middle and older age
According to the research, between the ages of 46 and 55, the anxiety level of 55 rises to 63; The anxiety level of the 56 and over age group, which was 64, became 77.
Anxiety at the highest level
Similarly, while all negative expectations on economy, politics, public health and psychology decreased in the May-September period of 2020; It reached its highest level again towards the end of 2020.
Social relations are thought to be weakened
Dr. Lecturer Tuğba Aydın Öztürk stated that people in Turkey are currently experiencing the period in which they have the highest anxiety, fear and negative thoughts since the first case was seen on March 11, 2020 and said: has also been added. In April 2020, the rate of those who said that the communication of family members would be stronger after the pandemic was 70; today this rate is only 40 percent. 71 of the participants think that interpersonal social relations will weaken”.
The rate of those who think that they are not exaggerated increased
The rate of those who think that the pandemic is not exaggerated was 70 in April 2020 and 45 in May 2020; In January 2021, this ratio reached 76.
Satisfaction with life decreased, we speak in negative words
According to the results of the research, while the rate of those who said they were satisfied with their life before the pandemic was 57, this rate decreased to 38 in January 2021. The biggest change in the satisfaction rate was among young people, students and business owners/entrepreneurs. For young people and students, this ratio goes from 52 to 23; decreased from 65 to 31 in business owners/entrepreneurs.
The rate of finding adequate applications for the epidemic also increased compared to April 2020. The rate of those who think that the applications are sufficient increased from 23 to 30.
While 59 of the participants expressed their opinion as “Yes, it should be brought”, 33 should not be imposed on the directive “Imposing a ban on everyone on weekdays”; Eight of them said they were undecided.
Distance education found ineffective
Unlike the first research, the research also included an evaluation of the efficiency of distance education and working from home.
Student participants stated that they found distance education inefficient. While this rate was 35 in April 2020, this rate increased to 41 in January 2021. Working from home was found to be 36 percent productive and 36 unproductive. The rate of undecided was 28.
The proportion of those who felt lonely increased
The study also compared the feeling of loneliness before and after the pandemic. Accordingly, while the rate of those who always and very often felt alone was 19 before the pandemic, this rate increased to 30 after the second wave. The age group in which the feeling of loneliness is most intense was determined as 25 years old and below, and the rate increased to 44 among young people, which was well above the average of Turkey.
The words that describe the pandemic the most: Fear and anxiety
In the first months of the pandemic in April 2020, the participants frequently expressed the words of uncertainty, anxiety, uneasiness and worry about the epidemic, but the majority of them also expressed the words of introversion, understanding the importance of health and family, strengthening the feelings of spirituality, environmental awareness and gratitude. also announced. In the study conducted in January 2021, the words used by the participants when describing the pandemic period were “anxiety, anxiety, loneliness, boredom, boredom, unhappiness and economy, especially fear”, and almost all of the participants did not use any positive expressions.
Vaccine is approached positively as education rises
In the study, participants were also asked about their opinions on vaccine studies, which are the hope of combating the pandemic. 39 of the participants stated that they were considering getting vaccinated, 22 stated that they were undecided, and 39 said that they did not think of getting vaccinated. Proponents of vaccination were professionals with a high education rate of 59, and participants aged 56 and over with a rate of 55. While the tendency to get vaccinated in men was 43, this rate was 35 in women.
Domestic and German vaccines are mostly preferred
Participants were also asked which country they preferred to have the vaccine in. While 38 of the participants were domestic, 38 from Germany, 12 from China, 8 from America, 7 from England, 3 from Russia, 12 of them replied that it would not matter. Participants aged 45 and over preferred the German vaccine, which has the highest rates, while people under the age of 45 preferred the domestic vaccine.
Politicians are trusted least, academics and specialist physicians are trusted most.
According to the results of the research, academicians and specialist physicians were at the top of the most trusted people and institutions during the pandemic period, with a rate of 60 percent. 36 of the participants stated that they found the public institutions, including the Ministry of Health and the Science Board, safe. 63 of the participants stated that they do not trust politicians. In the research, it was revealed that the level of trust in media channels, including traditional tools such as television, radio and newspaper, and new media tools, decreased in general.
Consumption of cleaning and hygiene products increased
According to the research, cleaning and hygiene materials were at the top of the most consumed products after the epidemic, with a rate of 63. Online shopping and e-commerce options came next with a rate of 42. The most widespread use of e-commerce was seen in the EU, that is, people belonging to the middle upper and upper economic class, professionals and young people. Virtual consumption among young people has increased to 60 percent. It was also among the results of the research that 42 percent more tea/coffee and 36 more junk food/sweets were consumed throughout Turkey. These rates increased above 50 in young people. Another important issue regarding the consumption of young people was their habits of playing video and computer games at a rate of 44 percent.
Turkey’s song became “I’m Tired Hayat”
The participants were also asked an open-ended question, “Which song best reflects you when you think about yourself during the pandemic process?” It was seen that the vast majority of the songs were in the arabesque genre and represented negative emotions. However, songs reflecting feelings such as hope, patience and consolation were also included in the list. According to this, the song that best reflects our mood in Turkey was Mümin Sarıkaya’s song ‘Ben I’m Tired Hayat’. Women said that Göksel’s song ‘Depressiondayim’ and men said that Müslüm Gürses’ song ‘I have an objection’ reflected them in the best way.
Our playlist about the pandemic
Looking at the general average, the ranking of the songs that best describe Turkey’s feelings and thoughts about the pandemic was as follows:
1. Mümin Sarıkaya- I’m Tired Life
2. Celestial- I’m Depressed
3. Edip Akbayram- We Will See Good Days
4. Sezen Aksu- Passes
5. Müslüm Gürses- I Have an Objection
6. Pinhani- Far From Earth
Source: (BHA) – Beyaz News Agency
