Resumen El 11 de marzo, Ecuador declaró estado de emergencia por la epidemia de Covid-19. Esto condujo a medidas públicas sin precedentes para combatir la propagación de Covid-19, incluido el aislamiento físico. Como el evento es reciente, existe una investigación limitada sobre el impacto psicológico para el público en general durante el pico de la epidemia. El objetivo de este estudio es establecer la prevalencia de los síntomas informados de estrés, ansiedad y depresión, e identificar los factores de riesgo que contribuyen a la angustia psicológica en la población de algunas provincias de Ecuador en relación con la epidemia de Covid-19. Esto se realizó mediante la aplicación de una encuesta que incluye variables sociodemográficas y la prueba de escala DASS-21 a 789 personas. Los resultados indican que un número preocupante de personas informó niveles severos o extremadamente severos de depresión (10.3%), ansiedad (19.4%) y estrés (13.5%).

National histories of violence shape experiences of suffering and the ways that mental health professionals respond to them. In Ecuador, mental health literature addressing this crucial issue is scarce and little debated. In contrast, local psychiatrists and psychologists within the country face contemporary challenges that are deeply rooted in a violent colonial past and the perpetuation of its fundamental ethos. This paper critically reviews relevant literature on collective memory and historical trauma, and focuses on Ecuador as a case study on how to incorporate history into modern mental health challenges. The discussion poses key questions and outlines possible ways for Ecuador to address the link between history and mental health, including insights from countries that have struggled with their violent pasts. This paper contributes to ongoing international debate on the role of cultural history in mental health with implications for social scientists and practising clinicians in former colonised nations.

This paper provides ethnographic evidence on how coloniality shapes the making of Latin American psychologists. A critical ethnography was conducted at a psychology training institution in Ecuador, consisting of twelve months of participant observation; forty-one semi-structured interviews; and analysis of academic discourse, photos, videos and relevant social media content. The research was guided by the tradition of Critical Psychology -specifically Liberation Psychology-and Critical Discourse Analysis. Findings suggest the pervasiveness of coloniality in the making of Ecuadorian psychologists and, hypothetically, of others in Latin America and the wider Global South. Interpretations also highlight the non-essentialist, non-dichotomist, 'messy' nature of such processes, a consideration which may advance current ethical and analytical debates on decolonisation. Echoing ongoing critical arguments, authors suggest that a 'help-as-war' metaphor is a category with potential value to contribute to such advancement, an approach that has important theoretical and pragmatic implications for researchers and practitioners.

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In Ecuador, the painful impact of the covid-19 pandemic elicited early responses by the government, and by local communities. This critical, positioned and exploratory case study analyses such responses, underscoring the fundamental ethical-political dimension of any academic and professional praxis aimed at the construction of healthier societies worldwide. While critical traditions are familiar with this stance, the inequalities and ideological mechanisms made visible by covid-19 responses may enable the wider community of researchers and practitioners to join ongoing collective ethical-political efforts. Findings from Ecuador underline the potentially harmful role of neoliberalism, and issues of democratic legitimacy; significant problems before and during the pandemic shock; and official discourses which blame communities for their own suffering and death. Neutrality and depoliticized notions of scientific evidence are notoriously insufficient in these scenarios. We need to engage more deeply with diverse forms of global and local community resistance, in times of covid-19, and beyond. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement