The Social Brain and Emotional Contagion: COVID-19 Effects

Abstract

Background and objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a highly contagious infectious disease, responsible for a global pandemic that began in January 2020. Human/COVID-19 interactions cause different outcomes ranging from minor health consequences to death. Since social interaction is the default mode by which individuals communicate with their surroundings, different modes of contagion can play a role in determining the long-term consequences for mental health and emotional well-being. We examined some basic aspects of human social interaction, emphasizing some particular features of the emotional contagion. Moreover, we analyzed the main report that described brain damage related to the COVID-19 infection. Indeed, the goal of this review is to suggest a possible explanation for the relationships among emotionally impaired people, brain damage, and COVID-19 infection. Results: COVID-19 can cause several significant neurological disorders and the pandemic has been linked to a rise in people reporting mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety. Neurocognitive symptoms associated with COVID-19 include delirium, both acute and chronic attention and memory impairment related to hippocampal and cortical damage, as well as learning deficits in both adults and children. Conclusions: Although our knowledge on the biology and long-term clinical outcomes of the COVID-19 infection is largely limited, approaching the pandemic based on lessons learnt from previous outbreaks of infectious diseases and the biology of other coronaviruses will provide a suitable pathway for developing public mental health strategies, which could be positively translated into therapeutic approaches, attempting to improve stress coping responses, thus contributing to alleviate the burden driven by the pandemic.

COVID-19: How the stress generated by the pandemic may affect work performance through the moderating role of emotional intelligence

“…Additionally, the subsequent pressure stemming from consecutive warnings, deadlines and targets on behalf of the higher positions in an organization may trigger a sense of unendurable stress that employees are prone to suffer causing in turn health issues and absenteeism at work (Bains & Chitrao, 2020;Wee et al, 2019). On top of that, stigma and discrimination by their peers and the possible emotional contagion of these in the workplace may affect individual self-efficacy causing emotional exhaustion, anxiety or even depressive symptoms that in the worst case-scenario may culminate in suicide (Barsade, 2002;Giorgi et al, 2020;Valenzano et al, 2020).…”

The acute and persisting impact of COVID-19 on trajectories of adolescent depression: Sex differences and social connectedness

“…We were unable to assess the type of social media content or social video games adolescents were engaging with; more research is needed to examine these nuances, how well they capture social connectedness, and links to mental health. Lastly, there is evidence to suggest that to exposure COVID-19 itself and/or the stress of COVID-19 may alter brain structures associated with mental health ( Valenzano et al, 2020 ). For example, one study found volumetric increases in brain regions commonly linked to internalizing disorders, in relation to a COVID-19-related lockdown ( Salomon et al, 2021 ).…”

COVID-19 and the Political Economy of Mass Hysteria

“…As a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis, there have been several studies examining the adverse psychological effects of state-imposed lockdowns [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. There are also studies that examine the contribution of digital media and the internet to anxiety [ 5 , 6 ], emotional contagion [ 7 , 8 ], anxiety transmissions [ 9 , 10 ], and nocebo effects [ 11 , 12 ]. However, to our knowledge, there has been no study that analyzes how different political institutions and the state affect the development and extension of mass hysteria.…”