Provincial Center of Sports Medicine provides psychological counsel by telephone

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Mar 20 (ACN) From Monday to Friday, the Provincial Center of Sports Medicine offers a telephone counseling service to athletes to mitigate psychological damages caused by the confinement practice imposed by COVID-19.

The difficult epidemiological situation in the country forced athletes to stop their daily training routines and suspend most competitions.

Psychologist Ilska Torres Milanés told ACN about the use of telephone calls to provide care to cases of stress as a result of the suspension of sports activities and confinement-related anxiety.

“They show the typical symptoms of trauma: fear, helplessness and uncertainty, and natural emotions caused by the interruption of competitions and training sessions,” she explained. “There’s the effect of all their hopes and expectations as well as the challenges and threats imposed by the disease, including the risk of infection, the death of loved ones, and their own professional instability,” she emphasized.

One of the values they try to underscore regarding performance is that of “satisfaction for a job well done” and the need that the athletes see this period as an opportunity to learn more and embrace other approaches to the difficult situations.

“For example, a practical exercise I recommend is to work on self-perception: see how your body reacts, what you feel inside, and how you act, and to do without making judgments or assessments. It’s how we come to terms with reality and keep a leash on any ambivalent emotion,” she holds.
The psychologists of this sports medical center are also engaged in research about how COVID-19 has affected and still affects sports players in this city.