Hi everyone and welcome back to another blog from one of our fantastic new monthly writers, Basma. This article explores the effects that the Covid-19 has had, and will continue to have into the future, on mental health. This is a fascinating topic and we hope you all enjoy it! Make sure to apply through the "Contact" form on our website if you would like to become a Cellfie monthly writer or do a one-time submission and have your work featured in the blog! :)
“It was the best of times and it was the worst of times” a quote from The Tale of Two Cities that could easily summarize the events during the epoch of the COVID-19 pandemic. And how else could a wrinkle in the fabric of time that had been woven by our expectations and understanding of the future be explained. A global fiasco that had been skirting the peripheries of our lives since the end of 2019 only to make its grand entrance in February 2020. Since the inception of COVID-19 due to the (SARS-CoV-2) coronavirus and the accompanying acceptance of words like “quarantine”, “self-isolation” and “social distancing” among others into the vernacular, one must wonder what the repetitive hammering of an invisible mallet can do to the human psyche.
Quarantine has presented with a rather dichotomous nature amongst the population. Some are choosing to use this time off to restructure their lives, bringing a focus on mindfulness during this time of duress; choosing to focus on family life and connecting with themselves and nature, or indeed accepting the events of the world in a blasé “come as they may” manner. We are not, however, as commonly exposed to the uncomfortable or less glamorous aspect of the side effects of this through social media. With ever-increasing rates of unemployment, businesses on the verge of bankruptcy and global economies sinking in a rather Titanic-esque fashion amongst a plethora of other modifications to daily living, we also see a rise in psychosocial issues. In particular, “health problems such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, insomnia, denial, anger and fear globally.” (1)
Whilst there has always been a high prevalence of mental health disorders in both the developed and developing world (with anxiety disorders and depression taking the lead) due a compendium of precipitating factors, more often than not there is usually a trigger for a majority of such cases that often causes the disorder in question to prevail. The most notable of these disorders would include PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), acute stress reactions, and a multitude of anxiety disorders and phobias including agoraphobia which were on the rise across various age groups prior to the pandemic. The disruption of daily living and the sudden incarceration of humans that used to live once active live, we begin to see its side effects. Studies conducted already show a rise in generalized anxiety disorders in younger age groups as “younger people, people spending too much time thinking about the outbreak, and healthcare workers… [are] at high risk of mental illness.” (2) whilst also having “wrought fear on the population, particularly for older people because they are considered at higher risk for the disease.” (3) With this, we see a rise in domestic abuse also. (4) While we may be less cognizant or privy to the lives of others behind closed doors, we do see the reports and recognition on a national scale of the number of these issues increasing.
While suggestions are being made for “continuous surveillance of the psychological consequences for outbreaks… [to] become routine as part of preparedness efforts worldwide” (2) one can only wonder what the extent of the psychological assault on the human mind is. Despite efforts by media companies to dispel the virility of false information that has developed from this breeding ground of misinformation by limiting how many messages can be forwarded to others or banning certain keywords from being uploaded, one can only wonder if this is too little too late.
Regardless of each person’s personal level of perception, this is a rollercoaster of emotions and a learning process for us all. It is a kaleidoscope of experiences, and, despite overcoming traditional hurdles through modern technology, there is an ever-growing increase of alienation in a once ever-connected world. For many, this is time off school and a time to catch up on shows despite missing important events and pivotal moments in their lives. For others, this means being on the frontlines covered in PPE worrying more about not making their family unwell when they go back home. And for some, this adds another stress and another dead-end on how they can pay their bills.
With a hermetic seal on what we once knew as our daily lives and the ushering of an unknown era looming in near view, we can only assume that this new way of living would be not deprive us of those paradoxical socially intimate moments that we’ve all experienced to some degree.“Society will be dealing with the devastating consequences [of this] for a generation” (4) and despite becoming mandatory human guinea pigs in a worldwide experiment, we have something in our arsenal that our predecessors had also. Hope. And with this hope, surely, we can and will recover some parts of what we lost.
1. Julio Torales, Marcelo O'Higgins, João Mauricio Castaldelli-Maia, Antonio Ventriglio (2020) 'The Outbreak of COVID-19 Coronavirus and Its Impact on Global Mental Health', Int Soc J Psychiatry , (DOI: 10.1177/0020764020915212)
2. Yeen Huang, Ning Zhao (2020) 'Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Depressive Symptoms and Sleep Quality During COVID-19 Outbreak in China: A Web-Based Cross-Sectional Survey', Psychiatry Res, (DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112954)
3. Robert D. Buenaventura, Jacqueline B. Ho, and Maria I. Lapid (2020) 'COVID-19 and mental health of older adults in the Philippines: a perspective from a developing country', Int Psychogeriatr, doi: 10.1017/S1041610220000757()
4. Jamie Grierson (2020) 'Domestic abuse surge in coronavirus lockdown could have lasting impact, MPs say', The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/27/domestic-abuse-surge-coronavirus-lockdown-lasting-impact-mps()