TITLE:
COVID-19: An Urgency to Address Mental Health Consequences
AUTHORS:
Vito Zepinic
KEYWORDS:
COVID-19, Pandemic, Quarantine, Mental Health, Stress-Related Disorders
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.12 No.5,
May
26,
2021
ABSTRACT: The novel COVID-19 pandemic has swept the entire world, seriously threatening the safety of all mankind, causing psychosocial panic and global financial crisis. Public measures taken to reduce the spread of Coronavirus have disrupted social and economic systems. At the same time, the entire world population is exposed to various persistent stressors that lead to mental health problems. These include social isolation, loss of employment, severe stress due to loved ones being infected or deceased, and fear of being affected by an invisible enemy. Given the psychological, social and economic burden placed on the entire world’s population, the impact on mental health is still not fully graspable, as the COVID-19 pandemic is one continuum of traumatic event. When facing stressful situations, most individuals may cope in a resilient manner; however, it is common that resilience decreases due to uncertainty and continuation of the stressor. Thereby, the strategies in dealing with the pandemic’s impact upon mental health problems require a long-term concept.