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Cited by 1,699COVID-19 and Mental HealthCOVID-19 Prevention and ImpactCommunication and COVID-19 Impact

Mental Health Strategies to Combat the Psychological Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Beyond Paranoia and Panic

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Ho, Cyrus SH, Chee, Cornelia YI, Ho, Roger CM·2020·Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
DOI 10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.202043
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Abstract

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) an international public health emergency after the number of cases soared across 34 regions in Mainland China and surpassed that of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003.The virus was believed to have originated from a wholesale seafood market in the city of Wuhan in the province of Hubei towards the end of December 2019.Shortly after, the number of cases increased exponentially in Wuhan and nearby cities and provinces before spreading throughout the world.Located approximately 3432 km from the epicentre of Wuhan, Singapore is a densely populated city-state of 5.7 million who saw 1,592,612 international visitors in 2019; of these, 380,933 were visitors from Mainland China. 1 After a tourist from Wuhan was identified as the first case of COVID-19 infection on 23 January 2020 in Singapore, the country responded decisively by initiating a series of public health measures to contain the outbreak that included travel advisories, restriction of entry into the country by individuals who had travelled to Mainland China in the preceding 2 weeks, mandatory quarantine for contact cases and rigorous contact tracing of individuals linked to confirmed COVID-19 cases.On 7 February 2020, Singapore raised the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) -a colour-coded framework that maps the current disease situation in the country-from Yellow to Orange after there was confirmatory evidence of community transmission of the virus involving several confirmed COVID-19 patients who were not linked to any existing cases and had no travel history to China.At the Orange level, the outbreak is deemed to have moderate to high impact on the health of the public.The last time it was raised to Orange was during the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009, and would also have been the case during the SARS outbreak in 2003 had it been in place.

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  • Mindfulness-based interventions help patients cope with anxiety and depression by enhancing stress management and reducing negative coping behaviors, and are more adaptive and persistent than behavioral therapy.

    “Unlike behavioral therapy, which involves relaxation techniques and changing the schedule of daily activities, mindfulness-based interventions help patients cope with anxiety and depression by enhancing their ability to manage stress and reducing negative coping behaviors, hence are more adaptive and persistent [20].”

    From Mindfulness-based online intervention on mental health and quality of life among COVID-19 patients in China: an intervention design (2021) · cites this paper as [20]

    The 'Mode and Content of Psychological Intervention' section says mindfulness-based cognitive therapy can alleviate stress in people with physical conditions. It attributes improved stress management and reduced maladaptive coping behaviours to cognitive behavioural therapy, not mindfulness-based therapy, and does not say mindfulness-based interventions are more adaptive or persistent than behavioural therapy. (LLM, conf=0.87)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • The transition to web-based mental health care has been highly recommended owing to the expected rise in psychological distress during the pandemic.

    “This transition has also been applied to mental health care services, wherein it has been highly recommended owing to the expected rise in psychological distress during the pandemic [3].”

    From Efficacy of a six-week-long therapist-guided online therapy versus self-help internet-based therapy for COVID-19–induced anxiety and depression: Open-label, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial (2021) · cites this paper as [3]

    The ‘Mode and Content of Psychological Intervention’ section (page unavailable) reports that hospitals launched online psychotherapy and suggests considering online or smartphone-based interventions during the pandemic. It does not strongly recommend a general transition to web-based mental health care: it describes reducing infection risk from face-to-face contact as the reason hospitals moved online, rather than an expected rise in distress. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • When combined with web-based technology, mindfulness-based intervention can benefit patients infected and treated in isolation wards and those quarantined with no access to psychotherapy.

    “Especially when combined with the web-based technology, mindfulness-based intervention can benefit patients who are infected and treated in isolation wards, and those who are quarantined with no access to psychotherapy as well. [17, 20]”

    From Mindfulness-based online intervention on mental health and quality of life among COVID-19 patients in China: an intervention design (2021) · cites this paper as [20]

  • Mindfulness-based intervention has been shown helpful in the treatment of mental health.

    “Mindfulness-based intervention (MBI) is an approach that focuses on the cultivation of conscious awareness, and orientation towards the present moment with curiosity and openness, which has been shown helpful in the treatment of mental health [17–20].”

    From Mindfulness-based online intervention on mental health and quality of life among COVID-19 patients in China: an intervention design (2021) · cites this paper as [20]

  • Negative psychological outcomes among HCWs during COVID-19 are related to the demanding and uncertain situation, to contextual conditions such as having worked on the frontline, and to individual differences such as personality traits, intolerance of uncertainty, and coping.

    “These negative psychological outcomes on HCWSs are undoubtedly related to the situation—that, specifically during the first wave of the virus spread, was in itself particularly demanding [24], stressful, and characterized by high levels of uncertainty—but probably also to more specific contextual conditions (first of all, as argued above, having worked on the frontline or not), as well as to”

    From Associations between Personality Traits, Intolerance of Uncertainty, Coping Strategies, and Stress in Italian Frontline and Non-Frontline HCWs during the COVID-19 Pandemic—A Multi-Group Path-Analysis (2021) · cites this paper as [24]

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Authors
Ho, C. S., Chee, C. Y., & Ho, R. C.
Affiliations
  • National University Health System (SG)
  • National University Health System, Singapore
  • National University of Singapore (SG)
ORCID
Venue
Annals of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore
Publisher
Academy of Medicine, Singapore
Published
2020-03-31
Volume
49
Issue
3
Pages
155-160
ISSN
0304-4602 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.47102/annals-acadmedsg.202043
OpenAlex
W3178245182
Cited by
1,699
References
27
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 36 · 2024: 94 · 2023: 204 · 2022: 363 · 2021: 530 · 2020: 447 · 2013: 2
FWCI
154.52
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Rare & Special e-Zone (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) (submittedVersion)
  • Annals of the Academy of Medicine Singapore
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › COVID-19 Prevention and Impact
  • Social Sciences › Communication › Communication and COVID-19 Impact
Keywords
COVID-19 pandemic, mental health, psychological impact, paranoia, panic, Singapore, public health measures, quarantine, contact tracing, travel restrictions, community transmission, pandemic response
MeSH terms
COVID-19, Adaptation, Psychological, Communication, Fear, Health Personnel, Humans, Mental Health, Mental Health Services, Panic, Pneumonia, Viral, Coronavirus Infections, Risk Assessment, Epidemics

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