Assignment 16 - Biddle

The Effects of a Global Pandemic on the Human Mental State: An Annotated Bibliography

Chatterjee, Kaushik, and V.s. Chauhan. “Epidemics, Quarantine and Mental Health.” Medical Journal Armed Forces India, vol. 76, no. 2, 2020, pp. 125–127.,doi:10.1016/j.mjafi.2020.03.017. 

This source compares the SARS(Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) epidemic in 2003 and the Ebola outbreak in 2014 to that of the recent covid 19 pandemic and how similar the population of affected individuals' mental health declined while placed in quarantine. With this comparison in mind they show that those who lost loved ones due to the viruses, and those who were isolated the longest having little communication to their family and friends, suffered the most mentally and had to undergo extensive treatments after their ordeal with quarantine. For example they recount the story of one woman who is still recovering from her attempt at suicide during her quarantine after she had been quarantined for a month she attempted suicide two times and is currently now in therapy and has had to “undergo extensive mental health screenings and constant surveilance.” This not only reflects one personal struggle someone had from the effects of isolation and quarantine but also how it can affect many others and it can have long term detrimental effects on individuals mental health as the journal says, “scarring one's brain from isolation.”

Mark É. Czeisler; Rashon I. Lane, MA; Emiko Petrosky, MD; Joshua F. Wiley, PhD; Aleta Christensen, MPH; Rashid Njai, PhD; Matthew D. Weaver, PhD; Rebecca Robbins, PhD; Elise R. Facer-Childs, PhD; Laura K. Barger, PhD; Charles A. Czeisl. “Mental Health, Substance Use, and Suicidal Ideation During the COVID-19 Pandemic - United States, June 24–30, 2020.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13 Aug. 2020, www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm. 

The Center For Disease Control found in a study completed in June of 2020 that nearly 40% of adults who had no history of mental health issues began to have symptoms of anxiety, depression, and began abusing substances. Their data shows that since the beginning of the nationwide lockdown  “Suicide rates have nearly doubled since the beginning of April.” This also supports the idea that the isolation brought upon individuals because of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused mental well being among Americans to decline rapidly. Another statistic the study analyzes is how different circumstances during a pandemic can affect one's emotional stability. Being emotionally stable is a key factor in having and maintaining a healthy mental state. With the COVID-19 pandemic taking nearly 300,000 lives as of December 2020, millions of lives have been affected by loss and the emotional stress of losing their loved ones to this virus. Adding this emotional stress to the already isolated individual can lead to an increase of what I discussed before including depression and anxiety and even the start of substance abuse. The healthy mental state is hard to define but it is easy to tell that this pandemic has caused stress to be put on that idea of having a healthy state of mind and helping those who need that extra emotional support in 2020 and into 2021. This website also lists various resources including the suicide hotline bringing attention to get help when anyone struggling needs it. 

“Mental Health of Quarantine and Isolation .” Psychiatry of Pandemics: Mental Health Response to Infection Outbreak, by Huremović Damir, Springer, 2019, pp. 95–118. 

Throughout the book Psychiatry of Pandemics Huremovic discusses the detrimental effects isolation can have on an individuals mental health especially in a situation of forced isolation such as a pandemic or a nationwide lockdown. Since the COVID-19 outbreak that began in February 2020, many individuals have had to isolate themselves from family and friends in order to keep themselves and others safe from the virus. In this book not only is the effect of that isolation discussed but also how the isolation can increase anxiety and depression. The book also discusses the “unique differences between a variety of populations such as pregnant women, children, adolescents,  postpartum patients, and patients with cognitive disorders.” For example the book discusses how young children being isolated from their peers can lead them to be shy when they are able to meet other kids and how this shyness can lead them to be loners and have social anxiety when trying to make friends. “This effect can leave a long term mental scar on the child from this lack of communication with other children and lack of friendships from a young age” he then goes on to discuss how it can lead to social issues from “lack of social development” and cause a variety of issues in the future because of this forced isolation. The book also discusses how every individual has psychological needs that need to be met and how quarantine would interrupt that healthy mental cycle. This book addresses the concerns associated with quarantine and how it can have such detrimental effects on one's mental health. 

Sebenius, Isaac. “Anxiety and Depression Are Following a Remarkably Similar Curve to Covid-19 Cases.” Vox, Vox, 15 Dec. 2020, www.vox.com/22174464/covid-cases-anxiety-depression-mental-health. 

In this article Issac Sebenius looks at the statistics of depression and anxiety as it relates to the COVID-19 pandemic. He states that is has been, “well documented” and that it “has taken a serious toll on emotional well being” The article also goes on to discuss some of the side effects of the slowly increasing suicide ideation, substance abuse, and alcohol consumption. As of the summer of 2020 when comparing data between COVID-19 cases and Anxiety and depression rates when cases would begin to spike anxiety and depression would increase. One of the many possibilities of this could be the virus creating anxiety in many who have elder loved ones or even have health issues themselves. They may fear for their own lives and worry what will happen to them if they catch the virus. Media has not been able to calm this anxiety either because of the constant spread of information that often only reports the death toll and total infected population. According to Sebenius the positive information that is produced into social media has decreased these anxiety and depression rates. “Seeing hope helps everyone calm their nerves and settle their anxiety.” He later goes on into more detail how as more cases are reported that anxiety and depression continue to rise stating that possibly, “For example, as people become more depressed and anxious, perhaps they seek social interaction more carelessly, generating infection spikes.” This agains supports the idea of how mental health has affected those dealing with the pandemic. It also continues to support that the quarantine has pushed people to want to go out in public, because they feel depressed and isolated from society, thus continuing the large spike in COVID-19 cases.  

Voices of Youth Like686 Comments, et al. “Art and Lockdown: Your Drawings in the Time of Coronavirus.” Voices of Youth, 29 Apr. 2020, 

The art piece presented by Diitka Laya Kashyap brings up the issues teens in the United States and all over the world are dealing with due to the isolation caused by the nationwide lockdown/quarantine. The colorful side reflects the inner thoughts of the teen as she goes through the world living through black and grey days of social distancing hoping to protect herself from the virus. The colorful side also represents her inner thoughts and how the artist says it, “ You should listen to your heart when making your decision. The mirror image is the inner thoughts of us.” This speaks volumes especially at a time when kids want to have the freedom to play with their friends and teens want to go to school and see their friends as well. Having to force the younger generation to give up that freedom hurts them mentally and isolates them causing a variety of social issues. This art piece agains shows a great way of living on through the pandemic and continuing to think positive through the isolation while also identifying the issues present in the isolation especially among younger generations.