Psychiatry in the age of COVID‐19
Open accessAbstract
Within a few months, COVID-19 has sickened millions, killed more than 200,000, disrupted the lives of virtually everyone, and caused tremendous anxiety, trauma and grief. As psychiatrists, we are used to helping people who have suffered trauma and loss. Some of us have cared for survivors of disasters, but few have experienced a global pandemic that threatens all of our lives. None of us was prepared for this crisis, and we acknowledge that the observations and adaptations we are writing about here may not stand the test of time. What do we know about the effects of pandemics on mental health and what can psychiatrists do to help? Studies from earlier outbreaks1 suggest high rates of acute stress and anxiety among the public, patients and health care workers. A recent study of health care personnel in China found high rates of depression and anxiety, especially among those on the front lines2. In our own experience, we have seen increased stress in individuals with preexisting mental health or substance use disorders, who may be socially isolated and have reduced access to their usual treatment programs or support systems. We have also noted new psychiatric symptoms in individuals experiencing stress, anxiety or grief as a result of the pandemic. Some are experiencing losses under traumatic circumstances, such as not being able to say goodbye to dying loved ones or the inability to offer proper burials. Physical distancing can help slow the spread of the virus, but we know th…
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Bereaved participants were unable to adhere to usual bereavement rituals.
“Furthermore, they were unable to adhere to usual bereavement rituals (Unützer et al., 2020).”
From Living through lockdown: A qualitative exploration of individuals' experiences in the UK. (2022) · cites this paper as Unützer et al., 2020
Cites
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Long-term psychiatric morbidities among SARS survivors
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Li, F., Cui, Y., Li, Y., Guo, L., Ke, X., Liu, J., Luo, X., Zheng, Y., & Leckman, J. F. (2022) · Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry · doi:10.1111/jcpp.13445 · Cited by 498 · see citing works
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Living through lockdown: A qualitative exploration of individuals' experiences in the UK.
Taylor, C., Lafarge, C., Cahill, S., Milani, R., & Görzig, A. (2022) · Health & Social Care in the Community · doi:10.1111/hsc.13772 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Pang, N. T. P., James, S., Giloi, N., Rahim, S. S. S. A., Omar, A., Jeffree, M. S., Hayati, F., Lim, M. C., Kassim, M. A. M., & Ng, J. R. (2021) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph18189656 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
- Authors
- Unützer, J., Kimmel, R. J., & Snowden, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Washington (US)
- ORCID
- Unützer, Jürgen
- Venue
- World Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2020-05-11
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 130-131
- ISSN
- 1723-8617 (ISSN-L)
- 2051-5545
- PMC
- PMC7214943
- OpenAlex
- W3024209052
- Cited by
- 129
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 51 · 2021: 51 · 2020: 8
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- World Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, social isolation, social distancing, grief and loss, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal ideation, frontline health workers, substance use disorders, social determinants of health, health disparities, telemedicine, external beam radiotherapy
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