Mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic (multiple reviews)

Abstract

What is this? The COVID-19 pandemic is placing a psychological and psychosocial burden on patients and wider society. Several reviews of the mental health impacts of COVID-19 and other pandemics are summarised here. More details, including citations and links to the full reviews, are available lower down this page. What was found: In addition to the impact of COVID-19 infection, pandemic-associated measures, such as quarantine, isolation and social distancing can have negative impacts on the mental health of patients and others. Two rapid reviews found that isolation and quarantine are linked with negative mental health outcomes (such as anxiety, depression, isolation and stigmatisation). At the time of their review, the studies included by Röhr (search done on 30 March 2020) showed that important factors contributing to adverse effects of quarantine include its duration and income loss. They also showed that healthcare workers are more likely to experience negative psychosocial impacts, particularly stigmatisation. The Hossain review (search done up to 10 March 2020) found that mental health impacts of isolation and quarantine can continue over a prolonged period. [...]