The Covid-19 pandemic brought us something on a global scale that hasn’t been seen before — social distancing. While, on the one hand, this is coming at a time when there are tools for people to keep in touch with each other — texting, social media, video conferencing, telecommute opportunities — on the other hand, this new normal can have mental health consequences.
“The worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, and efforts to contain it, represent a unique threat, and we must recognize the pandemic that will quickly follow it — that of mental and behavioral illness — and implement the steps needed to mitigate it,” Sandro Galea, MD, from Boston University School of Public Health, and colleagues wrote in JAMA Internal Medicine.