Views /Opinion

With the sudden upheaval in people’s routine and the new standard of social distancing during COVID-19 outbreak, life has changed but the change is not that significant.

Families are still facing tough decisions about protecting their health, loved once and livelihoods. Some of us medications might be delayed or he is delaying it as he/she is quarantined.

Therefore such individuals will be broken, while others will have a very high level of anxiety because he/she may have lost his job. All these things can create pileup of stress!, which if it is increased more either the person will try to cope or another psychological pressure will be added to it. So, how if you are that individual with chronic illness for instance, what will your situation be?

Of course, with weeks of social distancing turning into months, besides adhering to instructions, many of healthy people experienced feeling of isolation, anxiety, depression and panic as a result of the pandemic.

They have also become uncertain about when and how the pandemic will end and the fear of infection, in addition to the financial crisis and its shadows on their families.

On other hand, many are concerned that the painful changes brought by pandemic, will cause a significant increase in mental health problems that may last for a long time even after the virus has gone and here I mention a statement by the President of World Health Organization describing that, the psychological reality after coronavirus, it is no less important than the physical reality of corona!

However, many people are unable to see their friends and loved ones, either to protect them, or due to the decisions concerning the spread of the virus. This, of course makes the situation worse with high levels of feelings of tension, insomnia and sometimes high levels of family violence.

Also, it may turn over time into psychiatric symptoms, with depression disorder or general anxiety, in addition to physical health problems which, for instance, was confirmed by a study conducted in 2016. The study shows that persistent feeling of loneliness and isolation is linked to an increased risk of stroke and heart disease.

Thus, today the normal risks of loneliness can be exacerbated by stress and livelihood during the pandemic. Moreover, this leads me to say that there are long-term effects that extend beyond anxiety to reach depression for some people, especially for those who isolate themselves socially for safety reasons and did not use the available means to communicate.

While many people may experience more feelings of anxiety than usual during the pandemic period, most people with such distress will not likely develop a mental health condition. And I attributed this to the fact that some people, after disasters remain steadfast and even find new strengths. Such individuals are so called the healthier category, as they will become immune to future psychological pressure.

On the other hand, if we talk about patients with COVID-19 virus, one of these patients have their psychological symptoms from simple to moderate complains and may have trauma or psychological pressure, which may lead to the development of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) occasionally.

While, the other one unfortunately may suffer from delirium and agitation as a result of the virus, especially since some studies have shown that coronavirus infection, may affect the patient’s central nervous system, which lead to neuropsychiatric syndromes, affecting the cognitive, emotional, behavioral and cognitive domains of some patients.

In addition to that, patient mostly will be admitted in the intensive care unit, where he will be on the respiratory mechanical ventilation, requiring certain medications that can increase confusion and other psychological impact after that!

However, in addition to patients, healthcare workers are also at risk from the psychological effects of this pandemic for several reasons including, that they have seen the full extent of what the virus can do.

They have to deal with the possibility of losing the patient and the task of communicating and explaining the sad news about the patient to his family.

Moreover, they face the risk of infection, even at the end of the day and on their way home they are forced to isolate themselves as everyone does!. However, due to such situation they show psychological symptoms such as anxiety disorders, depression, obsessive disorder and ending in some cases with PTSD.

Sadly, the other category that can face an additional risk during a pandemic is those who suffer from mental and psychological health conditions before the pandemic begins.

For example, people with addiction may have been not able to see their specialist or getting treatment during previous weeks or coming time. Not to mention that people who suffer from anxiety, depression or schizophrenia before COVID-19 pandemic, their symptoms may worsen, due to the pressure of livelihood during this period.

In fact, this leads me to a very important point, which is how we as a community or individuals, have often become a cause of aggravation in the patient’s psychological state?

Some of us face the patient with coronavirus with a state of rejection, which enhances the feeling of shame or loneliness in him. Therefore, we must stand with the infected person now and help the recovered one to return to their lives and encourage them to do so, not the other way around!

Hence, each family and their members must minimize the effects of physical or social distancing and loneliness, by communicating and dealing with the COVID-19 patient as an ordinary patient, creating an atmosphere of support and optimism. Also, the requirements to follow the infected patient by the family members, taking into account his /her feelings, while making sure to spread hope.

Noting that one of the positive coping strategies for dealing with the psychological stress is starting for example, doing various activities such as, drawing, reading books or practicing relaxation exercises that will help return life to normal. It is also a good idea to avoid excessively following the news (especially those with sad or disturbing news), eating healthy foods and definitely exercising.

At the end, the truth of what it means to mention here, is not only the idea of talking about the psychological situation during the pandemic period and afterwards.

But what we will do, to address such a psychological issue for many people after the pandemic is over! Noting and undoubtedly that mental and physical health are linked and the fall of one of them will definitely affect the other, adding its negative effects on the health of the individual and society. Dr Yousuf Ali Al Mulla is a physician, medical innovator and educator.