The unprecedented Coronavirus spread worldwide has led to around 2 million cases and over 100,000 deaths, the freakish outburst of the pandemic has disintegrated our medical institutions and has charged the world economy on a steep downhill. To pull a break on the uprising of cases, governments worldwide have decided to apply full country lockdowns to restrict public movements. The world population has been forced to stay locked inside their houses in quarantine, the rising tension and stress levels combined with the gloomy nature of self-isolation and social distancing has led to a state of mental disaster.
Billions of people have been thrown off their regular routine and the circumstances don’t appear to be getting better, anytime soon. Even though the medical and economic impact of the COVID-19 is absolutely catastrophic, the US government and the WHO should also be prepared to contain a violent eruption of mental health cases and the possibility of an epidemic of mental depression.
Now, we don’t want to create any panic by lighting a matchstick into the spilled oil, but what we do strive for is the act of spreading awareness about the ticking time bomb that can create a chain reaction of mental breakdown across the country that can ultimately disrupt the country’s already debilitating healthcare facility.
We will have to prepare for a crisis before it actually peeks down the hole of our doorknobs, we need to attract the attention of our policymakers and the health agencies towards this monumental issue.
A recipe for mental disaster
Well none of us are really untouched by the common traits of a depressed mind, all of us have heard how constant loneliness and consistent stress can lead to a reality of mental breakdown and depression, and under some unfortunate conditions all these negative emotions take over our heads to plunge us toward a state of pessimism and hopelessness. Depression can ultimately affect our productivity, diet, physical health, sexual relationship, and so on, unflinchingly robbing us of your life and happiness.
Clinical depression is significantly affected and triggered by the negative factors of our surroundings, the coronavirus has been able to harness all these negative factors to contrive a system of perpetually nerve-racking and distressing real-life situations. This continuous affair of stress and anxiety can result in a surge of depression cases in a large part of the population.
Despair and tragedy
The rise of discomforting environmental conditions and unfortunate personal tragedies have paved the way for troubling mental health disorders, and the constant worsening of the situation has been a burdening experience for the mental sense.
As the death rate becomes more and more horrific, the possibilities feeling grave mental conditions like depression, trauma and grief becomes more real.
Isolation and loneliness
Months of isolation has the capacity to trigger an additional layer of mental health risk. We are biologically hardcoded to constantly indulging in social experiences. Individuals who forced to stay secluded, inside the walls of their houses are more prone to getting swindled off their mental peace. Loneliness and Isolation are two active harvesters of depression and mental breakdown.
The constant state of confinement among family members can also lead to a number of conflicts, elevating the risk of high-stress levels which can consequently trigger depression. China has witnessed an increase in the number of couples who filed to get divorced as soon as the quarantine gets over.
Recession and unemployment
The huge risk of an economic meltdown and the possibility of mass unemployment can lead to a very thin economic condition. Experts believe that a rise in unemployment will eventually result in more cases of depression and suicides.
The 2008 housing market meltdown led to as much as a 62% increase in the overall depression case, economic failures can have a severe impact on the mind of an individual further pushing him towards mental disruption or death.
The way out
The only way out of this grisly situation is for the authorities and government to assure the population that they will be economically supported in case of any unfortunate turn of events. Better incentivization policies for those who will lose their jobs and houses are very important. Except that there is also a pressing need for establishing a mental health campaign that will focus on providing aid, support, and treatment to the patients suffering from depression.
The stigma around the mental disorders and mental patients should be disregarded and there should be active discussions about the mental problems and health agencies should come forward to acknowledge the severity of the situation, a perfunctory approach for tacking the mental conditions should not be adopted and an uncaring attitude towards the sensitivity of the issue should immediately be disregarded.
More reasonable and better available mental disease treatment facilities. Rather than just instituting a small number of professionals to help the patients in big cities, more effort should be made to deploy healthcare facilities for mental health at a community level.
An epidemic of depression can be disastrous for the US economy, better arrangements should be made before the wolf finally reaches the hen house and it gets too late to react.
