The COVID-19 disaster and mental health—assessing, responding and recovering

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic is a disaster that has impacted lives globally. The purpose of this paper is to understand the linkage between COVID-19 and its impact on mental health. To reach this aim, we reviewed the literature on COVID-19 and mental conditions. Based on the literature, we identified COVID-19 as an unexpected, large-scale event that disrupted communities and caused death, destruction and trauma which upended normal existence. For mental conditions, effects of the pandemic are likely to manifest in different ways: development of symptoms in previously healthy individuals, new episodes in those with predisposition to mental disorders and development of symptoms that do not meet diagnostic criteria. The level of mental health problems varies depending on the stage of the pandemic, country, population groups and types of conditions. This also applies to the level of suicide, although suicides do not seem to have increased during the pandemic. Yet, we identified a net of factors contributing to mental conditions, in general. These factors include demographic factors (e.g. female gender, younger and older age), social factors (e.g. economically disadvantaged), mental factors (e.g. pre-existing mental conditions) and relationship factors (e.g. stressful relationship, lack of relationships). Additionally, we identified COVID-19-specific factors such as threat to own life and threat to life of loved ones, containment measures and interruption of services and social life. We further explored potentially additional suicide-related risk factors. Regardless of differences, health care and psychosocial systems were in many countries not prepared to respond to a viral disaster. Viral disaster requires that responses not only include direct care but also responses to populations that may need support due to known determinants of mental health.

Interrupted transit and common mental disorders among migrants in Tijuana, Mexico

“…It is relevant to notice that this research was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health impacts of the pandemic are heterogeneous in time, and across population groups (Lindert et al, 2021), but migrants could be disproportionately affected in this regard, given the adverse conditions many of them live in (Pinzon-Espinosa et al, 2021). For migrants at the Mexico-United States border, during the pandemic their time in an uncertain migration condition was prolonged by the interruption of asylum procedures and border closures.…”

COVID-19 related innovation in Aotearoa/New Zealand mental health helplines and telehealth providers – mapping solutions and discussing sustainability from the perspective of service providers

“…As such, collectively, it seems that we have not learned from previous pandemics ( 28 ) about the need to be prepared (e.g., via surveillance systems), to have a surge capacity, and to maintain a healthy healthcare system in general to be able to respond to crises and optimise emerging technologies and innovations ( 29 , 30 ). There is still a need for more strategic and innovative thinking in how the healthcare system runs as a cohesive whole based on suggestions from this and prior reports ( 31 ).…”

Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Attitudes toward the China Eastern Airlines Plane Crash in Transportation Students

“…Learning to cope with disasters in the future is a top priority for public mental health. Under the unprecedented situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for mental health services is increasing, but the availability is greatly reduced in many countries, as well as in China [ 42 , 43 ]. Improving the ability to respond to disasters requires policymakers to be able to plan and allocate resources wisely, promote mental health, and enhance resilience to mitigate the negative effects of disasters.…”