Due to the global situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the mental health of many people has been affected by quarantine, physical distancing, remote work, temporary unemployment, and education of children from home. The lack of physical contact with loved ones and the countless news about the increase in people infected cause constant concern, leading to depression, anxiety, and stress.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is one of the main disorders that affects the population worldwide. This causes a level of anguish among those who suffer from it, altering their mental state and raising the level of stress. Likewise, it affects the ability to carry out daily tasks, damages relationships with family and friends, and hinders participation in the world of work.

In this context, the Universidad Peruana Unión (UPeU) and its promoter, the Seventh-day Adventist Church (IASD) in Peru, developed a project called "Oido amigo", which consists of providing free virtual counseling and psychological assistance to all people as a measure to cope with the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For this, the following virtual platform is available: upeu.edu.pe/oidoamigo, where a team made up of 96 volunteer psychologists and interns in their fifth year in the UPeU Professional School of Psychology provides psychological care and free advice via telephone.

As part of the team of volunteer psychologists, 20 are psychology professionals from the Women's Ministry of the Northern Peruvian Union, the Adventist Church's office for the region. In this way, the UPeU seeks to contribute to an improvement in the mental well-being of the general population and bring hope in the midst of the current crisis.

This article was originally published on the South American Division’s Portuguese news site