Covid-19 and Mental Health
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Abstract
The essay looks into the effect of the covid-19 on the mental health of the people being affected by the results of the global pandemic. The pandemic has brought the whole world to a stand-still, and people in the world are progressively accepting the new normal. The last few months of 2020 has been hectic in all kinds of manner from a dramatic loss of human life globally, an unparalleled challenge to the world economy, food basket and at the prime of it all the health system. The public health system has been significantly affected to an extent it was overwhelmed globally. Focusing on the human dimension of the pandemic; fear, stress and worry are perceived as normal responses to the threat. The extreme measures placed to fight covid-19 caused a tremendous change in our daily lives as the movement was restricted and curfews in efforts to contain the spread of the virus. Adapting to the new reality has been a challenge to most of the people, and accepting the changes has affected the mental health of people around the world. In the United States of America, 53% of the adults reported that their mental health had been affected due to concerns about Covid-19. The mental health wellbeing ranges from difficulty in sleeping to even excessive alcohol consumption. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an increase in mental health issue, people are suffering, and the solution to the cause has not been found; hence there is still an increase.
Covid-19 and mental health
Antecedent to the Covid-19 virus, nearly one in about five adults, reported having a mild mental illness, whereas the critical mental illness had a few cases. During this unprecedented times of the Covid-19 pandemic, the level of fear and uncertainty raised the cases of mental health across the world. Globally the total cases of mental health increased by 35% since such states tend to induce general tension across a population. Once the restrictions kicked in nearly one in every three adults had reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive order during the pandemic (Pfefferbaum, 2020). The scale-up of cases was progressively growing, and the victims increased across the globe. The effects of the mental health starting groping into people, and since they could not access the public health system, they had to result to increased substance use as a way of managing stress caused by Covid-19. According to the study, 13.3% of adults in the society reported new or increased use of substance abuse, as a coping mechanism to reduce stress and depressive order. The emergency response approach against Covid-19 has had negative effects on the mental health of the public and medical practitioners (Dashraath et al., 2020). The new realities resulting from the pandemic launched the increase in the mental health cases globally.
To grip the facts of the mental health issue during the Covid-19 unprecedented times. We shall explore the risks that resulted in mental health issue among the population. During the first announcement from China, the World Health Organization, was reluctant when it came to imposing health emergency procedures since it was not aware of the intensity of the virus. As it started spreading and the causality number started spiking not only in China but globally. The best way for any country to approach the disease is to impose restriction measures isolation and forced quarantine (Khan et al., 2020). First, social isolation; the initial response by different states to fight the pandemic was to restrict the movement of its people. People were forced to social isolation, and the normal day to day activities could be carried out online. The stay-at-home order was mandatory for all non-essential workers. The essential workers were exempted, but the health emergency measures would apply to them as they carry out their activities. There were no longer large gatherings, all social events were cancelled, travelling was prohibited, and people were encouraged to stay indoors.
The social isolation led to loneliness, and it resulted in poor mental state and physical health in general. The unprecedented times of Covid-19 have resulted in a widespread of loneliness, and it has grown to be a mental health concern. It is well known that loneliness is greatly associated with mental illness and a reduced life span (Chen et al., 2020). The psychology factor had been undermined by the health emergency protocols, resulting in increased suicidal ideation during the unprecedented times of Covid-19. The rate of depressive disorder and stress was great, resulting in an increased rate of suicidal ideology among the population. The public health system was overwhelmed at the time and to get the required help from the health practitioners was difficult for the population.
Secondly, job loss and income security was a major cause of mental illness in the population. Covid-19 resulted in an economic recession that commenced in February 2020 to date; the global economy is in rumbles. The effect of such a great economic recession affected the population directly from being laid off by the organizations, reduced salaries, and pay cuts (Spinelli, Pellino, 2020). The rate of unemployment in the world increased by 7% due to the pandemic. The low-income and middle-income countries were the ones that were greatly affected since their economy is not secure compared to first world countries. Innovation was stalled, and all the projects that were to generate revenue and sort the employment issue for over 200 million people across the world had to be halted until the economy is stable again. Investors were reluctant to invest since there is a lot of uncertainties in the current global market. The job loss that has been rampant in the past few years and this has resulted in increased depression, distress and low self-esteem. According to research, the households that lost employment reported a high rate of mental illness. The households that had operational businesses had to stop operating due to the restrictions also experienced the same mental health issues. The negative impact on the economy implicated by the Covid-19 virus resulted in uncertainties in many family households (Holmes et al., 2020). The households were experiencing job loss and low income, this made them stress over everything and most importantly, the virus. The parents in such households had difficulties when it came to sleeping, eating. They were always preoccupied with thoughts, and the only way most of them could deal with that is through substance abuse. This made matters worse, and their mental health was always on the line since they were in difficult situations.
Thirdly, poor physical health issues among the population resulted in mental health issues. According to the World Health Organization, the people that were perceptible to the Covid-19 virus were the ones underlying chronic health issues. Chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma and heart conditions—the risk associated with those chronic disease brought about tension and stress among the population. The people who had such underlying chronic diseases had mental health issues since they knew the virus could end their lives. Researched showed that most of the adults who had concern over their poor health status had mental health issues. They were consistently in a depressive state and distress since they feared for their lives (Greenberg et al., 2020). Compared to the population that is in good health and do not have any underlying issue. The latter had very excellent mental health status since they were sure the Covid-19 virus could not implicate their health that easily and result in fatality.
The Covid-19 virus caught everyone off guard, but the people who were completely caught off guard were the health practitioners in the world. The frontline health care workers were unprepared for such an event, and they had to adapt in a short span. Many of the hospitals in the world from the public to private ones were overwhelmed with the ever-increasing hospitalizations due to Covid-19. The health care system has always had a shortage when it comes to service providers from doctors to caregivers. This was evident when the outbreak of the Covid-19 took place this year. The was a rampant, and rapid demand for frontline health care workers and most of the hospitals had shortages. A study in China showed how frontline health workers were affected by the virus outbreak. Most of them reported feeling depressed and being anxious since they were overwhelmed by the cases and they felt the burden to save lives was on them. The feeling was mostly experienced by female health caregivers compared to make health caregivers. The treating of the patients and caregiving required a lot of work that was strenuous and draining. The virus came with new restrictions and protocols that required a sophisticated level of service provision to the affected people.
The burnout in hospitals was highly experienced in hospitals with less registered nurses. The hospitals that also had a limited amount of physicians at their disposal. The burn out made the nurses and physicians prone to negative mental health since they had to overwork to ensure the patients with cases of the virus were attended and cared for by them. They were depressed, and most of them would result in substance abuse to overwhelm what they were feeling. A lot of the burden was placed upon them by the respective government and institutions. The families of the frontline health workers were also affected, and they were also prone to negative mental health issues (Xiong et al.,2020). Households that had health care workers stressed over their loved ones who were taking care of people who tested positive for the coronavirus. Some of the families lost their loved ones who were health care workers and contracted the virus while attending to patients. Such families have been affected, and the loss of their loved one has led to negative mental health. They ended up being distress and depressed most of the time and blame the Covid-19 virus for the loss of their loved ones.
Finally, the people who already had mental illness have also had problems coping with the new norm; people faced with mental illnesses such as anxiety and autism have had trouble adapting to the new normal. They have to wear masks and keep a social distance; these are things they were not used. For instance, when someone has autism, he is adaptable to his daily routine and ones it changes he can even fall ill. This is because such people require a special kind of treatment that should be consistent over time for them to improve and stay healthy mentally. The changes caused by the Covid-19 virus has impacted them a lot, and for them to adapt to the changes, it will take time (Torales et al., 2020). The older adults in nursing homes have also been affected negatively on matters of mental health issues. The virus has restricted movement of people, and so there was no visiting in the nursing homes. The elderly were subjected to loneliness, and this affected their mental health; most of them were distressed and had a depressive disorder. This, accompanied by underlying issues that come with old age, proved to be detrimental to them.
The World Health Organization had a vital role when it came to addressing the issue of mental health during this trying times of the pandemic. The organization drafted key points about mental health to be addressed globally. The mental wellbeing of the world has been on edge and if no implementations are made. Then the world is heading to a mental disorder apocalypse since mental illness is the number one disability globally. Resources have to be deployed immediately to counter mental illness in society and the world at large. The implications of the pandemic to the mental health of the people, may either be long-term or short-term depending on the intensity. The organization has to mobilize the various health sectors of the countries and give a solution to the mental health issues caused by the Covid-19 virus.
All factors kept constant the Covid-19 virus is here for a period of time before the vaccine is developed. The mental health of the populations should be held in high regard. The relevant associations should hand in hand to come up with an inclusive plan that will beneficial to the people when it comes dealing with mental health-related issues. If not addressed with the agency, it requires the outcome will affect the world. The suicidal rates will increase; the socio-economy will not have a productive workforce leading to loss billion in revenue.
In conclusion, policymakers are working hand in hand with health worker to come up with a vaccine to the Covid-19 virus and try to alleviate the burden of mental health caused by the virus along with other effects. The work to be done to raise awareness and educate people about mental health is significant, and the relevant institutions should pursue it with zest. Mental illness can be dealt with as long as the provisions to fight it are present and coordinated in a good manner.
References
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