Authored by Sandro Galea and Catherine Ettman.
“Since the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, this crisis has posed challenges for mental health. As of April, 2020, stay-at-home advisories or shelter-in-place policies affected no less than 316 million people in the US—about 96 percent of the population—making sustained social isolation, for perhaps the first time in the country’s history, a ubiquitous experience. We have for months been physically cut off from family and friends. We have had to learn new ways of interacting, new practices for safeguarding health. Many of us now have had personal experience with the virus, either by contracting it ourselves, or knowing someone who has. Some mourn the loss of loved ones, and we all mourn the thousands who have died from this disease in the US and around the world.
These challenges—the virus itself and the policies we have adopted to contain it—have created a perfect storm for poor mental health. This was reflected by a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found during June of 2020 adults in the US reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions linked with the pandemic. In particular, racial/ethnic minorities, essential workers, unpaid adult caregivers, and younger adults reported disproportionately poorer mental health outcomes, including elevated levels of substance use and suicidal ideation.”
Read the full piece on Psychology Today.