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Mental Health Takes A Toll In Covid-19

  • Writer: Tejas Rokhade
    Tejas Rokhade
  • May 18, 2020
  • 6 min read

With more than a third of the world stuck in different forms of Coronavirus social distancing, there has been a spike in levels of anxiety, depression and stress in people. Some fear getting sick or seeing their loved ones ill while others dread unemployment. With uncertainties swirling in everyone’s minds, what is happening to our mental health? Is media playing a key role in regulating our emotions? How can we deal with this together?


Crux of the Matter


Findings Paint An Ugly Picture Of Mental Health Internationally The Indian Psychiatry Society (IPS) reported a 20% rise in mental illness cases, affecting at least one in five people in India’s Coronavirus lockdown 1.0 – 3.0. As per WHO statistics, in Canada, 47% of health-care workers have reported a need for psychological support while 20% of 15-49 year-olds have increased alcohol consumption during the pandemic. 32% of youngsters living in the UK with a history of mental health needs, agreed that COVID-19 has worsened their ability to deal with their issues.


Report: Suicide Rise to Kill More than Coronavirus in Australia https://t.co/yc6I46tV3I — Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) May 7, 2020

Distress Calls Rise During Lockdown, Children Affected The Most There has been an understandable increase in cases of mental illness globally due to prolonged confinement of people at their respective homes. This is being signified by daily reports of high distress calls on hotline numbers, stating suicidal tendencies with a restlessness to break out into normal surroundings and live their pre-coronavirus lives.


As many as 75,000 Americans could die because of drug or alcohol misuse and suicide as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to an analysis conducted by the national public health group Well Being Trust. https://t.co/jvzMABgeM0 — CNN (@CNN) May 10, 2020

Parents of adolescents in Italy and Spain have reported that their children are having difficulty concentrating studying and often show irritability while doing any regular activity. Additionally staying at home makes them vulnerable to witnessing or suffering violence. Other groups that are at risk, include parents especially women, juggling a schedule of home-schooling, household tasks and work from home along with the elderly with pre-existing medical conditions.

Unemployment Causing High Psychological Distress? Back in the times of the Great depression in 1929, the suicide rate in the US had escalated 50%. Then in 2008, a group of British researchers noted that the financial crisis was the reason for more than 10,000 suicides across Europe and Canada. The fear of not being able to provide support to their family when they need it the most is what forces the working force to take drastic steps like taking their own lives.

Source: Pew Research Center

With a history of deaths being attributed to economic hardships, Coronavirus portrays no different reality. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3 million+ people have filed for unemployment benefits in 2020 while Canadian statistics show more than 7.2 million people applying for emergency unemployment assistance.

Indian government announced a slew of measures to support farmers and middle income group

Countries like France and Germany fare better with schemes rolled out for workers in the form of partial employment or part-time working opportunities. With India’s unemployment rate at 27.1% (Source: CMIE 2020), the government rolled out the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ economic package. It allocated money for supporting farming, agriculture and allied activities, fisheries and dairy. Additionally, affordable rental accommodations for migrant workers is being developed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Fear Based Media More Popular? As individuals, we often experience a varied set of emotions in our day to day life. In times of a pandemic affecting everyone globally, fear can become a shared and social emotion as it spreads quickly across communities and shapes our reactions to ongoing events.

Credits: Tobias, Medium

From the scientific aspect, fear floods the brain with stress chemicals, reducing activity in the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that processes logical thinking and decision-making and increases anxiety levels, which depletes one’s overall mental well-being.

Media may not tell us what to think, but what to think about. Karin Wahl, Professor and Director of R&D and Environment, Cardiff University

Everyone quarantined currently has a fear of missing out on the latest updates about the Coronavirus crisis numbers and footage from hard-hit places. According to a survey conducted by LexisNexis UK database recently, 1,066 articles mentioned this “fear” or related terms, in an attempt to capture the reader’s instant attention.


What we know about the coronavirus seems to be changing by the day, and it’s important to stay informed — but only up to a point. Overconsuming media in these stressful times can have a negative impact on our mental health. https://t.co/M6ErpZYdrm @APA @BUSPH #MentalHealthMonth — CHCF (@CHCFNews) May 13, 2020

Need for investment in mental health services ? Frontline health-care workers, faced with heavy workloads and risk of infection, are demanding a rigorous implementation of the Mental Healthcare Act 2017 that introduces a suicide prevention policy in India. After countries like China conducted surveys and found psychological problems as one of the top reasons to visit a doctor, they implemented similar policies and significantly reduced suicide rates thereafter.

Source: Washington Post

Australia has already started putting mental health the top most priority in the pandemic with the National Cabinet supporting the National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan with an immediate investment of $48.1 mn.

What Makes Us Hopeful? Teams from nations such as Egypt, Malaysia, and New Zealand have created an increased capacity of emergency telephone lines for people to reach out in case of mental health crisis. Support for community actions that reduces loneliness must continue from government, local authorities, the private sector and general public members.


Returning to normality after #COVID19 may look different for each of us. Look after your community as we adapt to new changes. Give other's extra protection by minimising physical contact. Individual acts have a collective impact. We’re #InThisTogether & all have a part to play🧩 pic.twitter.com/NVkvHH6Cpu — National Mental Health Commission (@NMHC) May 14, 2020

Initiatives like regular phone check-ins with people living alone and online group formation that brings forth people with similar distress must be consistently carried out. Social media can be used as a coping mechanism for a productive purpose of virtually grouping together people to reflect how society is reacting to the crisis. After all, this is our opportunity to reorganise mental health services on an international basis and change things for the betterment of the entire society.


Today we’ve launched The World Rebooted: a new video, paper and discussion guide all about reimagining a post-coronavirus world. We’ve got a unique opportunity to build a better reality together. Join the conversation at https://t.co/yRi0OXaaXl #WorldRebooted — Tearfund Action (@TearfundAct) May 8, 2020

Curiopedia


  1. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation” in Psychological Review. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is used to study how humans intrinsically partake in behavioral motivation. Maslow used the terms “physiological”, “safety”, “belonging and love”, “social needs” or “esteem”, and “self-actualization” to describe the pattern through which human motivations generally move.

  2. “Negativity bias” is a psychologists’ term for people’s collective hunger to hear and remember bad news. Psychologist Tom Stafford states the “Negative Bias” as the main reason behind why negative headlines are most noticeable or popular.

  3. Some Good News is a 2020 weekly YouTube series created and hosted by actor and filmmaker John Krasinski. The show is “a news show dedicated entirely to good news” which Krasinski operates inside his home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The show due to its positivity and fresh content has become a global hit.

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