Epílogo: Notas de investigación sobre la gestión del malestar durante la pandemia

Abstract

This paper presents a qualitative synthesis of the subjective experiences of university and high school students, mental health professionals, and educational staff in the Tres de Febrero district with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on individual and group interviews conducted in a post-pandemic context, seven central dimensions are reconstructed: general perceptions of the pandemic, transformations in the experience of time, emerging forms of distress, coping resources, educational experiences, relationship reconfigurations and the returning to face-to-face interaction and its development. The testimonies reflect a strong ambivalence: for some, confinement opened up spaces for refuge, introspection, and reorganization of time, while for others it implied an overloaded experience, temporal destructuring, conflicts of coexistence, and an increase of psychological distress. Cross-cutting effects were identified –anxiety, insomnia, irritability, difficulty concentrating, eating disorders and relationship problems– as well as an increase in conflict among adolescents, exacerbated by the intensive use of technology and social media. Virtuality changed both therapeutic work and schooling, revealing material inequalities and limitations in the available support systems. The return to face-to-face interaction highlighted the lasting effects of isolation: difficulties in resuming habits, tensions in relationships, and a persistent feeling of instability. The findings show how the pandemic reconfigured the boundaries between the public and private spheres, altered temporality regimes, and deepened processes of unrest that require comprehensive mental health policies with greater responsiveness and institutional coordination. The study thus provides a situated reading of the subjective effects of the health crisis and opens up avenues for rethinking the role of State Administrations in managing psychosocial well-being in emergency contexts.