The COVID-19 pandemic has posed significant mental health risks all around the world as a major virus outbreak in the twenty-first century. To say the least, this pandemic has pushed people to the brink. While patients and healthcare personnel receive psychological support, the mental health of the general populace also needs attention.
As the epidemic progresses, continuing and required public health policies and actions expose an ever-growing number of people, from all walks of life to scenarios that are connected to poor mental health conditions, such as isolation and job loss.
Children
Children, compelled to be at home, away from school, friends, and schoolmates, may have many questions regarding the outbreak, and they turn to their parents or caregivers for answers. Children and parents do not all react to stress in the same way. Anxiety, distress, social isolation, and an abusive environment can affect a child's mental health negatively in the short or long term.
Young Adults
Anxiety, despair, sleep disturbances, and suicidal thoughts have all become more prevalent among young adults (18-24 years of age) as the pandemic has progressed. They also had to deal with a slew of adverse pandemic-related effects, including university closures, switch to remote work, and loss of income or job, all of which may wreak havoc on one's mental health.
Elderly
The elderly are particularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 outbreak for clinical and social reasons, such as weakened immune systems or other underlying health concerns. The enforced isolation from their relatives and friends is also a critical factor, which affects their mental well-being adversely. Medical professionals state that people aged 60 and up are more likely to contract the disease, and their condition may deteriorate to serious and life-threatening levels, even if they are otherwise healthy.
Adults
Many people, across the globe, have lost their jobs or businesses due to the pandemic, which had a negative impact on their mental health. People who lost jobs during the pandemic have consistently exhibited higher rates of anxiety and/or depressive disorder symptoms than their counterparts who managed to hold on to their jobs.
According to a poll in July 2020, many adults are reporting specific negative effects on their mental health and well-being, such as difficulty sleeping (36%), or eating (32%) due to worry and stress over the coronavirus, increases in alcohol consumption or substance use (12%), and worsening chronic conditions (12%).
Healthcare Professionals
Doctors, nurses, and paramedics acting as the vanguard soldiers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic are increasingly vulnerable to mental health issues. Long working hours, a lack of protective gear and supplies, high patient load, a lack of effective medication, death of colleagues by exposure to the disease, social distancing, the dire situation of their patients, and isolation from family and friends may all have a negative impact on health workers' mental health.
Mental Healthcare
The ongoing crisis, due to COVID-19, highlights new and existing barriers to mental health, given the pandemic's implications for those with new or pre-pandemic mental health disorders. More than 20% of people with anxiety and/or depressive illness reported requiring but not obtaining counseling or proper treatment during the epidemic. In part, this is owing to a present scarcity of mental health experts, which has been aggravated by the pandemic. With the influx of COVID-19 patients, in masses, needing hospital beds, the pre-pandemic shortage of psychiatric hospital beds has intensified.
The COVID-19 pandemic is linked to high levels of psychological stress, which in many situations, is alarming as it either exceeds or meets the clinical criteria. Its harmful impact on mental health is a global public health priority. Even if new cases and deaths attributable to the pandemic subside, policymakers and authorities must brainstorm and address how to meet the increased need for mental healthcare, which would likely remain a challenge for the long term.
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