Take Steps Now to Mitigate Mental Health Effects of COVID-19

In the aftermath of disaster, there is often an uptick in the number of people with mental and behavioral disorders. Experts predict the same is likely to emerge in the wake of COVID-19.“In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it appears likely that there will be substantial increases in anxiety and depression, substance use, loneliness, and domestic violence; and with schools closed, there is a very real possibility of an epidemic of child abuse,” wrote Sandro Galea, M.D., of Boston University School of Medicine; Raina M. Merchant, M.D., of Perelman School of Medicine; and Nicole Lurie, M.D., of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations in Norway, in anarticle inJAMA Internal Medicine. “This difficult moment in time nonetheless offers the opportunity to advance our understanding of how to provide prevention-focused, population-level, and indeed national-level psychological first aid and mental health care and to emerge from this pandemic with new ways of doing so.”Galea, Merchant, and Lurie recommended three steps they believe can help to address the likely rise of mental disorders and related challenges from the pandemic:Make plans to address loneliness and its aftereffects as populations physically isolate and to develop ways to intervene. Even while physically separated, digital technologies can be used to create spaces for connection and structure through shared online activities and gatherings, the authors wrote. They emphasized the importance of “d...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: anxiety child abuse COVID-19 depression disaster domestic violence JAMA Internal Medicine mental health Nicole Lurie Raina Merchant Sandro Galea Source Type: research