Government and health organizations, for months now, have constantly informed us about the preventive measures to be implemented against the advancement of Covid-19. Even now that fortunately the contagions remain falling and our life seems to have returned to a pseudo normality.
What you haven’t focused on quite enough are probably the psychological consequences That this period of pandemic and subsequent social isolation may have had or currently having on people. In fact, factors like thesocial isolationimprisonment at home and the weight ofuncertainty General, they can now hit our mental balance hard.
There is also another variable which perhaps has not been paid enough attention. In our country, thousands of people with depression or anxiety disorders are now found in a situation of potential worsening of their state.
It is therefore essential to offer them help and support strategies, to make them feel accompanied even now that, for everyone, the danger has escaped. This is also in order to not make them feel alone or “wrong” compared to the concerns they present.
Scientific studies
The scientific magazine The Lancet, not long ago, has published a study on the psychological impact of the Coronavirus. He put it in relation to other similar situations of the past (albeit not with the same impact). One of all was the quarantine implemented in various areas of China following theSARS epidemic of 2003.
In that situation, the population was forced to remain quarantine for ten days, a period that served local psychologists to analyze the effect of this kind of emergency.
Thanks to the data collected, observation and comparison of what has been verified during isolation and what we are experiencing now, it was possible to recognize the The main psychological consequences of the Coronavirus And analyze them in people.
The effects of quarantine
To begin with, we know well as one of the measures that governments have implemented to prevent the Diffusion of the Coronavirus And to overcome the disease (when the symptoms are slight), it is that of quarantine. This implies total insulation for a duration of at least 15 days.
The researchers who have completed the study came to the conclusion that the ten days of total isolation exceeded the mind begins to yield. Since the eleventh day stress, nervousness, greater anxiety appear. Having had much more prolonged imprisonments in many cases, it is easy to imagine how the effects have been able to be even more difficult to manage for most of the population.
The obsessive fear of contamination
Instead entering more specifically of the clinic, one of the most obvious psychological consequences of Covid-19 The fear of being infected or of being able to infect others without knowing it is still for many people.
It is important to underline that, when a situation of epidemic or pandemic expands, the human mind tends to develop irrational fears. Often it is not enough that we listen to the Reliable information sourcesnor that we are aware of the simple and necessary security measures. For example, wash your hands, keep the meter away, stay at home if you have some line of fever or specific symptoms.
Gradually it is possible to have developed increasingly unfounded fears, such as the irrational fear that the infection may come from the food we eat, or that it can be transmitted by our pets. This may have triggered real obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
The depressive symptoms
In a context in which social interaction was reduced to the limit for weeks or months, where silence reigned in the normally noisy and crowded roads and we were forced to stay closed in the house, it is obvious how boredom and frustration have been present in our days.
The inability to maintain our lifestyle and our freedom of movement (both physical and mental) made many people precipitate towards a abyss of complex and problematic emotions. In some cases this may have unleashed or slatentized real depressive symptoms.
Other psychopathological symptoms
Still, in the context of pandemic in which we found ourselves catapulted (most of us for the first time during our life) the mind tends to act following few natural impulses. One of the consequences of this, for some it was the purchase or compulsive shopping. In an uncertain scenario like that of the first weeks of emergency, our brain had focused on the priority not to remain without the fundamental assets for survival.
Also in this case, it did not matter that our supermarkets were always well supplied and that the authorities were recommended not to raid in the stores or that the pharmacies were always well supplied. The mind of many of us led us to believe that certain goods could end and therefore prompted us to do Exaggerated and unmotivated stocks.
Among the most important psychological consequences of this period there is also the Loss of trust towards official information sources. For many people, in the maximum crisis moment, the mind has disconnected and has lost confidence. Also helped by the fact that, being the Covid-19 a completely unknown virus, as Sars was in its time, the authorities responded on the basis of the progress and events recorded day by day.
The greatest risk to psychologically vulnerable people
As we said at the beginning, and perhaps this is the consequence that we must keep in mind. The most vulnerable population consists of those people who, even before the appearance of the virus, presented more or less important paintings of depression, phobias, generalized anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The period of isolation, the media bombing and the continuous restrictions on the normal life they were used to, they can without doubt having aggravated theirs psychological health conditions. They can also have had different types of side effects, for them and also for their family members, cohabitants and acquaintances.
In light of this, it is vital that even now that the contagions are under control and we tend to lower the guard, they feel supported and that they do not spend too much time isolated with their inconvenience.
Conclusion
To conclude, there is evidently a factor that unites all of us in this period of post pandemic. It is a dangerous factor, which can negatively impact on the mental health of all of us and especially on that of those who previously suffered from some discomfort or psychological disorder. Or the so -called catastrophic thought.
It is the tendency to always anticipate the worst, that little voice that whispers that we will lose the job, that things will not return as before, that we will end up in the hospital, that some person dear to us will not make it, that the economy will collapse, that there will be no way out of the situation, etc.
Obviously, instead of helping, these thoughts do nothing but complicate the reality we are experiencing. They make it more tiring and certainly less pleasant or reassuring.
While continuing to stick to the rules imposed by the authorities regarding the Virus preventionlet’s not forget to take care of our psychological health also. We try to compare ourselves with specialists who can help us to better face the negative effects of a difficult period for everyone.
