IJFANS International Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences

ISSN PRINT 2319 1775 Online 2320-7876

COVID-19 AND MENTAL HEALTH

Main Article Content

Arti Ojha

Abstract

The novel coronavirus disease pandemic originated in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019 and has now rapidly spread over the world. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was declared a pandemic and a general health emergency of worldwide concern on Jan 30, 2020, by the World Health Organization (WHO) The threats of the pandemic are not limited to physical health only. The global public health, epidemiology and social systems are collapsing as well under the spread of the disease. The ICUs have been completely overwhelmed in some countries. Extreme pandemic prevention measures such as the compulsive closure of schools and the abeyance of all nonvital productions and commercial activities are seriously affecting the daily life of the general citizens, and working activities, and thus putting the private economic organizations of both small-scale and large-scale investments in danger. The quality and magnitude of impact on common masses are determined by many vulnerability factors like developmental age, educational status, pre-existing mental health condition, being economically underprivileged or being quarantined due to infection or fear of infection. There is an increasing demand for long-term and development research on the mental health of people during the pandemic as well as post-pandemic. Obsessive-compulsive disorders or depressive anxiety are causing a pernicious impact on the mental balance of people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This requires close monitoring in clinical practice. For this, innovative policies with direct and digital collaborative networks of psychiatrists, psychologists, paediatricians, and community volunteers are deemed necessary.

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