MENTAL HEALTH AND COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Keywords:
COVID-19, Mental health, Psychiatry, Disorders, Pandemic, Psychosis
Abstract
Mental health (MH) and illness reflect bio-psycho-social balance / imbalance and extend into multidimensional space. In the current pandemic, the entire area of MH / illness is at increased risk of contamination not only by infection, but also by many other aspects of this complex public health crisis. There are at least three mechanisms by which the COVID-19 pandemic can create new-onset mental conditions: 1) Psychological factor - increased degree of emotional suffering after extremely severe traumatic events or long-term life-threatening exposures); 2) Social factor - risks related to interaction with the environment: a) emotional deprivation; b) cognitive disintegration related to infodemia; and c) existential, primarily economic fears that destabilize relationships (within the family and beyond); 3) Biological factor - neuropsychiatric effects of the virus itself. In addition to the new-onset conditions (although in essence they are not completely "new", because they largely depend on individual dispositions), the pandemic also has an impact on people who already have a history of mental disorders.
This review paper will present the most important information from relevant sources related to mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic related to the first year of exposure. Emphasis will be on research that has attracted attention with sample size and representativeness, as well as a reliable methodology, with the aim of not losing sight of the heterogeneity of the pandemic effects on mental health.
References
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02. Shevlin, M., Butter, S., McBride, O., Murphy, J., Gibson Miller, J., Hartman, T. K., … Bentall, R. (2021, February 23). Refuting the myth of a ‘tsunami’ of mental ill-health in populations affected by COVID-19: Evidence that response to the pandemic is heterogenous, not homogeneous. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/ujwsm
03. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation Report ? 13. (2020). WHO.
04. Winkler, P., Formanek, T., Mlada, K., Kagstrom, A., Mohrova, Z., Mohr, P., & Csemy, L. (2020). Increase in prevalence of current mental disorders in the context of COVID-19: analysis of repeated nationwide cross-sectional surveys. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 29, e173. https://doi.org/10.1017/S2045796020000888
05. Knudsen, A. K. S., Stene-Larsen, K., Gustavson, K., Hotopf, M., Kessler, R. C., Krokstad, S., Skogen, J. C., Øverland, S., & Reneflot, A. (2021). Prevalence of mental disorders, suicidal ideation and suicides in the general population before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway: A population-based repeated cross-sectional analysis. The Lancet Regional Health - Europe, 4, 100071. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2021.100071
06. Kroenke, Kurt, Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606–613. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x
07. Löwe, B., Decker, O., Müller, S., Brähler, E., Schellberg, D., Herzog, W., & Herzberg, P. Y. (2008). Validation and Standardization of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Screener (GAD-7) in the General Population. Medical Care, 46(3), 266–274. https://doi.org/10.1097/MLR.0b013e318160d093
08. Chin, E. G., Buchanan, E. M., Ebesutani, C., & Young, J. (2019). Depression, Anxiety, and Stress: How Should Clinicians Interpret the Total and Subscale Scores of the 21-Item Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales? Psychological Reports, 122(4), 1550–1575. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294118783508
09. Daly, M., Sutin, A. R., & Robinson, E. (2020). Longitudinal changes in mental health and the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence from the UK Household Longitudinal Study. Psychological Medicine, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720004432
10. van der Velden, P. G., Contino, C., Das, M., van Loon, P., & Bosmans, M. W. G. (2020). Anxiety and depression symptoms, and lack of emotional support among the general population before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A prospective national study on prevalence and risk factors. Journal of Affective Disorders, 277, 540–548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.026
11. Taquet, M., Geddes, J. R., Husain, M., Luciano, S., & Harrison, P. J. (2021). 6-month neurological and psychiatric outcomes in 236 379 survivors of COVID-19: a retrospective cohort study using electronic health records. The Lancet Psychiatry, 8(5), 416–427. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00084-5
12. Rogers, J. P., & David, A. S. (2021). A longer look at COVID-19 and neuropsychiatric outcomes. The Lancet Psychiatry, 8(5), 351–352. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(21)00120-6
13. Nemani, K., Li, C., Olfson, M., Blessing, E. M., Razavian, N., Chen, J., Petkova, E., & Goff, D. C. (2021). Association of Psychiatric Disorders With Mortality Among Patients With COVID-19. JAMA Psychiatry, 78(4), 380. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.4442
14. Lee, S. W., Yang, J. M., Moon, S. Y., Yoo, I. K., Ha, E. K., Kim, S. Y., Park, U. M., Choi, S., Lee, S.-H., Ahn, Y. M., Kim, J.-M., Koh, H. Y., & Yon, D. K. (2020). Association between mental illness and COVID-19 susceptibility and clinical outcomes in South Korea: a nationwide cohort study. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(12), 1025–1031. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30421-1
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16. Parnas, J., & Zandersen, M. (2018). Self and schizophrenia: current status and diagnostic implications. World Psychiatry, 17(2), 220–221. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20528
17. Wittchen, H. U., Jacobi, F., Rehm, J., Gustavsson, A., Svensson, M., Jönsson, B., Olesen, J., Allgulander, C., Alonso, J., Faravelli, C., Fratiglioni, L., Jennum, P., Lieb, R., Maercker, A., van Os, J., Preisig, M., Salvador-Carulla, L., Simon, R., & Steinhausen, H.-C. (2011). The size and burden of mental disorders and other disorders of the brain in Europe 2010. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 21(9), 655–679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2011.07.018
18. Vujčić, I., Safiye, T., Milikić, B., Popović, E., Dubljanin, D., Dubljanin, E., Dubljanin, J., & Čabarkapa, M. (2021). Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Epidemic and Mental Health Status in the General Adult Population of Serbia: A Cross-Sectional Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(4), 1957. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041957
19. Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., Williams, J. B. W., & Lowe, B. (2009). An Ultra-Brief Screening Scale for Anxiety and Depression: The PHQ-4. Psychosomatics, 50(6), 613–621. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.50.6.613
20. Taylor, S., Landry, C. A., Paluszek, M. M., Fergus, T. A., McKay, D., & Asmundson, G. J. G. (2020). COVID stress syndrome: Concept, structure, and correlates. Depression and Anxiety, da.23071. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23071
21. Lazarević, L. B., Purić, D., Teovanović, P., Lukić, P., Zupan, Z., & Knežević, G. (2021). What drives us to be (ir)responsible for our health during the COVID-19 pandemic? The role of personality, thinking styles, and conspiracy mentality. Personality and Individual Differences, 176, 110771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2021.110771
22. Knezevic, G., Savic, D., Kutlesic, V., & Opacic, G. (2017). Disintegration: A reconceptualization of psychosis proneness as a personality trait separate from the Big Five. Journal of Research in Personality, 70, 187–201. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2017.06.001
23. Stanković, S., Lazarević, Lj. B., Knežević, G. (2021). The role of personality, conspiracy mentality, REBT irrational beliefs, and adult attachment in COVID-19 related health behaviors. Manuscript in preparation.
24. Rogers, J. P., Chesney, E., Oliver, D., Pollak, T. A., McGuire, P., Fusar-Poli, P., Zandi, M. S., Lewis, G., & David, A. S. (2020). Psychiatric and neuropsychiatric presentations associated with severe coronavirus infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis with comparison to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet Psychiatry, 7(7), 611–627. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30203-0
25. Helms, J., Kremer, S., Merdji, H., Clere-Jehl, R., Schenck, M., Kummerlen, C., Collange, O., Boulay, C., Fafi-Kremer, S., Ohana, M., Anheim, M., & Meziani, F. (2020). Neurologic Features in Severe SARS-CoV-2 Infection. New England Journal of Medicine, 382(23), 2268–2270. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMc2008597
26. Vlada Republike Srbije (2019). Program o zaštiti mentalnog zdravlja u Republici Srbiji za period 2019-2026. godine (Sl. glasnik RS br. 84/19). https://www.zdravlje.gov.rs/view_file.php?file_id=1199&cache=sr
27. Winkler, P., Krupchanka, D., Roberts, T., Kondratova, L., Machů, V., Höschl, C., Sartorius, N., Van Voren, R., Aizberg, O., Bitter, I., Cerga-Pashoja, A., Deljkovic, A., Fanaj, N., Germanavicius, A., Hinkov, H., Hovsepyan, A., Ismayilov, F. N., Ivezic, S. S., Jarema, M., … Thornicroft, G. (2017). A blind spot on the global mental health map: a scoping review of 25 years’ development of mental health care for people with severe mental illnesses in central and eastern Europe. The Lancet Psychiatry, 4(8), 634–642. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(17)30135-9.