COVID-19 and mental health: Preserving humanity, maintaining sanity, and promoting health

Potential changes to the hikikimori phenomenon in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

“…Various forms of preventive public health measures, such as quarantine, social distancing, and school closures, have been implemented in an attempt to suppress the transmission of the COVID-19 virus in many countries (Tandon, 2020a). The social and economic consequences of such measures have led to business closures, job losses, and debt-related family violence (Tandon, 2020b).…”

Lessons learned from SARS to COVID-19 in the Taiwanese population

“…In summary, as of June, there is no obvious community infection crisis in Taiwan. The mortality rate in Taiwan is 0.3 deaths per 1 million people, which is far lower than countries in Western Europe (Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, France, and Germany) and North America (United States of America and Canada) (Tandon, 2020b). In other words, during the COVID-19 pandemic period, Taiwanese individuals may reduce social gatherings and suffer financial losses, most people generally maintain a normal lifestyle, including work, school, shopping, travel and even face-to-face psychotherapy, which reflects that Taiwan does not seem to show panic and helplessness as it did in 2003.This should be attributed to a lesson we learned through SARS.…”

Revisiting ‘The Plague’ by Camus: Shaping the ‘social absurdity’ of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Beyond just public health, psychosocial discourse related to the outbreak is on rise. Keeping the same in background, the authors were encouraged by the personal reflections of the Editor of this journal where he calls for a global action on mental health during the ongoing pandemic (Tandon, 2020a(Tandon, ,2020b. Furthermore in the subsequent editorial, he stresses on "opportunity amidst tragedy and uncertainty" highlighting the need to understand the ongoing pandemic in varied socio-cultural contexts (Tandon, 2020b).…”