Past epidemics highlight the importance of mental health in COVID-19

In 2015, an unprecedented coronavirus called the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) was transmitted to South Korea. The outbreak eventually infected nearly 200 people in the country, most of whom worked in the medical sector. About 30 people died.

“People were very shocked at the time,” recalls Dr Sun Jae Jung, a preventive medicine expert and psychoepidemologist who worked at a hospital in Seoul during the outbreak. “There was no vaccine. There was no treatment.”

Fear of the virus struck Korean society, Jung remembered. The effects of epidemics on mental health were not widely recognized. Healthcare workers and those in quarantine lacked psychosocial support and suffered from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

“I think people were so frustrated that they didn’t even realize it was a mental health problem, so they mainly depend on the biology of your virus and your mortality, and how to prevent it. Was focused [it], But it’s not a matter of mental health or frustration or anxiety. …They didn’t talk about it then. “

“I think people were so frustrated that they didn’t even realize it was a mental health problem, so they mainly depend on the biology of your virus and your mortality, and how to prevent it. Was focused [it]But it’s not a matter of mental health, frustration or anxiety,” Jung said. “They didn’t talk about it then.”

Five years later, it is clear that the new coronavirus pandemic is causing a global crisis in mental health. Make that way It is destroying lives and livelihoods around the world. United Nations Urged the government Take the effects of mental health seriously. From the occurrence of a previous infection, Ebola To SARSIs announcing the current virus response. It has helped the global focus on mental health has increased in recent years.

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In South Korea, she and others in the medical field said they want to prevent mistakes made during the outbreak of MERS. When COVID-19 emerged domestically in late January, they I was keenly aware Of serious mental health challenges that may continue. Chung, who specializes in mental epidemiology at Yonsei University School of Medicine in Seoul, has started a survey on mental health of the general population. Results have not been announced yet.

“People are more worried, [had] More serious stress symptoms,” Jung said. “Many people have reported problems with sleep. And, like palpitations, there are problems with anxiety-they have some kind of panic.”

Lessons from MERS

Following the outbreak of MERS, Jung and other health care professionals have found that working at the forefront of medicine or being infected and put in quarantine can lead to acute stress, anxiety, and PTSD. These mental health problems lay on the broader anxiety people often felt about being sick and potentially disrupting their lives.

Health professionals most likely to be confronted faced an additional layer of stress during the outbreak of MERS: they are almost criticized because they are a highly regarded sector. The stigma of illness against those who have done or are at risk has been stigmatized.

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This time Team of psychologists In South Korea, we are cooperating with patients in quarantine for COVID-19, setting better psychosocial support for hospital workers.

But perhaps the most notable is the changes observed in Korean society, Jung said. People are talking about mental health. They devised terms for emotional problems related to pandemics, especially after the rest of everyday life.

“I don’t call it Corona Depression, but I say Corona Blue.” In other words, everyone was depressed. “

“I don’t say depression in Corona, I say “Corona Blue”,” Jung said. “That means everyone was depressed.”

In South Korea, there were less than 300 deaths from COVID-19 and about 11,500 reported cases. The growing awareness of “Corona Blue” has spread to other countries. Singapore has raised awareness of mental health as a result of the coronavirus.

Early in the coronavirus outbreak, Silver ribbonSingapore’s group mental health agency has set up a virtual counseling service to raise awareness about the emotional effects of social distance, loss of physical connection, disruption of daily life such as being at home.

“We have begun to receive more calls,” said Porsche Po, director of the group. He is also a board member of the World Federation of Mental Health. “And we share that many people were experiencing anxiety.”

In response, her group has reached out to older people who may not be technically savvy. They also organize virtual events and concerts to encourage people to connect with each other and find ways to get help and deal.

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Musician Eugene Yip Gormin Way participated in a recent virtual concert organized by the group.

“I’ve had problems with mental health in the past, and this really kept me moving,” Minway said. Then I sang the cover of the New Empire “A Little Braver” to the call participants.

Raising global awareness

Changes have been seen in mental health over the last decade. Awareness is rising worldwide.

The turning point in the late 2000s was Lancet, a leading medical journal Established major committee About global mental health. United Nations And the World Health Organization Prioritized mental health They are based on the Global Agenda and publish guidelines for the recognition and treatment of psychological distress by COVID-19.

An increasing number of studies indicate that mental health interventions may be effective worldwide in a variety of settings. Refugee camps To the city center.

Dr. Vikram Patel, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School, has spent the past decades spreading knowledge and access to mental health services around the world.

“As with physical pain, we find that psychological pain is a basic, universal human experience.”

“As with physical pain, we find that psychological pain is a basic, universal human experience,” he told the world last year. “I also think this is one of the most powerful sciences. Knowledge of how to help people with mental health problems created in one situation to recover can be applied in other situations as well. Suggests.”

Expensive professionals and formal therapies are not the only way to build coping skills.. Members of the community are trained in counseling and there are some core methods that people can employ to manage anxiety and depression. This includes identifying and performing activities that bring people’s purpose and enjoyment, and help break the cycle of destructive thinking and action. Other simple techniques recommended by all types of mental health professionals include: Breathing exercise..

Still, Patel is worried that psychological damage to this pandemic is just beginning, while mental health is “back to the shadows.”

Despite growing awareness of mental health, it is unclear whether governments and healthcare systems will innovate and invest resources to adequately address the long-term psychological consequences of COVID-19, he said. It was

“Increasing inequality in countries, the future wave of epidemics and the ongoing uncertainty about physical distance policies are beginning to dig deep into our mental health,” Patel told the world by email. “Mental health care systems in most countries are inadequate to address this surge not only because of the shortage of skilled health care providers, but also because of the narrow biomedical models that dominate mental health care. “