Psychological impact of COVID-19 on general population in Pakistan

Author(s):  
Hasan Saeed Alamri ◽  
Abdullah Algarni ◽  
Shehata F. Shehata ◽  
Ali Al Bshabshe ◽  
Nada N. Alshehri ◽  
...  

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on public mental health. Our objective was to assess prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress among the general population in Saudi Arabia during this pandemic. A descriptive cross-sectional approach was used targeting all accessible populations in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from participants using an electronic pre-structured questionnaire. Psychological impact was assessed using the Arabic version of Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). A total of 1597 participants completed the survey. In total, 17.1% reported moderate to severe depressive symptoms; 10% reported moderate to severe anxiety symptoms; and 12% reported moderate to severe stress levels. Depression, anxiety, and stress were significantly higher among females, younger respondents, and health care providers. Depression was higher among smokers, singles, and non-working respondents. Anxiety was higher among those reporting contacts with COVID-19 positive cases, previously quarantined and those with chronic health problems. Our findings reaffirm the importance of providing appropriate knowledge and specialized interventions to promote the mental well-being of the Saudi population, paying particular attention to high-risk groups.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 256-261
Author(s):  
Muhammad Afzal ◽  
Dr. Hameed Mumtaz Durrani ◽  
Dr. Muhammad Imran Sohail

Objective: To ascertain the psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health of general population of Pakistan. Study design: Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study. Place and Duration of study: The participants in the study were selected from community population of Islamabad in a period of two months from 15th May to 15 July 2020. Patients and Methods: A total of 278 participants were selected for this study. All the participants were given structured questionnaire consisting on demographic information HADS scoring system to calculate depression and anxiety. HADS consists of 14 questions, each of which is scored 0–3. The possible scores for depression and anxiety ranged 0-21. Higher scores indicate increased severity of anxiety or depression. A cut off value of 8 or more was used to identify the anxiety and depression.  Results: The mean age was 33.42 ± 9.67 years and 148 (53.2%) were males. Among these participants 238 (85.6%) were resident of urban area, and 167 (60.1%) were married. Most of the participants were graduate 102 (36.7%). Thirty-six (12.9%) participants had a known patient of Covid-19 in their family or friends. Most of the participants 196 (70.5%) had no any comorbid disease. The mean anxiety score was noted to be 6.47 ± 5.51 and mean depression score was 6.65 ± 4.17. History of any comorbid disease showed a highly significant (p-value < 0.01) association with anxiety and depression score. Conclusion: To minimize the effect of Covid-19 pandemic on mental health of general population attention should be given to vulnerable groups like males, middle age adults, less educated and unemployed persons especially the people with chronic comorbid disease. Keywords: Covid-19, Mental health, General population, Anxiety, Depression


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 49-54
Author(s):  
Joseph George Kallivayalil ◽  
Preetha S ◽  
Kavitha S ◽  
Lavanya Prathap

Author(s):  
Francisco José Barbosa-Camacho ◽  
Benjamín García-Reyna ◽  
Guillermo Alonso Cervantes-Cardona ◽  
Enrique Cervantes-Pérez ◽  
Efraín Chavarria-Avila ◽  
...  

Abstract The world is social distancing and compulsory confinement has caused stress, psychological instability, stigmatization, fear, and discrimination in the general population. In this cross-sectional survey study, we administered the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to hospital medical and nonmedical personnel. A total of 1,216 participants were included in the study. We found that the global FCV-19S mean score was 16.4 ± 6.1, with a significant difference between women and men’s scores. Medical students presented higher scores than experienced medical personnel. As the medical and nursing personnel scored higher on the FCV-19S than the nonmedical hospital staff, our findings suggest that greater knowledge of medicine or infectious diseases could decrease the overall psychological impact of the pandemic disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 87 ◽  
pp. 75-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Moccia ◽  
Delfina Janiri ◽  
Maria Pepe ◽  
Luigi Dattoli ◽  
Marzia Molinaro ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 519-519
Author(s):  
Ozlem Kazan Kizilkurt ◽  
Nesrin Dilbaz ◽  
Cemal Onur Noyan

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. S141-S142
Author(s):  
L. García-Álvarez ◽  
L. De la Fuente Tomás ◽  
P. García-Portilla González ◽  
T. Bobes Bascarán ◽  
C. Martínez Cao ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-60
Author(s):  
Sergii Boltivets ◽  
Olga Okhremenko

The victimhood of indirect witnesses of terrorist acts, which includes both the audience of the media and the population as a whole, is a complex socio-psychological phenomenon. The reasons victimizations are changes in the system of internal regulation of behavior, namely contradictions between the basic beliefs of people and the real consequences of terrorist acts, which are subjectively perceived as an unexpected, uncertain threat to existence (both objective and subjective), the irreparability of what can happen. Among the indirect witnesses were singled three response styles: slightly negative assessment, partial justification of the perpetrators of a terrorist act, negative emotional assessment with expressed anxiety. The most significant consequences of the psychological impact of terrorist acts on the media audience and the general population should be considered: the contradiction between the basic ideas of people and the reality demonstrated by the media: the subjective and objective unexpectedness of a terrorist act; incorrigibility of the offense. Shown, that psychological countermeasures should be based on the information component aimed at preventing inappropriate reactions, especially in the first days after the terrorist act, development and demonstration of optimal algorithms of behavior, prevent recourse to unconscious or subconscious impulses that violate basic illusions existence. With the presence of drivers that trigger patterns of victim-induced behavior, the media can provoke in the general population a massive loss of social and personal identity, meaning of life, prospects, to form a complex of inferiority, to induce certain adverse behaviors. The most significant consequences of the psychological impact of terrorist acts on the audience of the media and the general population should be considered the contradiction between the basic ideas of people (activate the images of death, destruction, horror of nothingness, which subconsciously everyone has. These "forms of the unspoken" violate three basic illusions of existence: the illusion of one's own immortality, the illusion of justice, the illusion of the hidden meaning of life) and the reality published by the media, which is subjectively perceived as a threat to existence; subjective and objective unexpectedness of a terrorist act; incorrigibility of the committed. Psychological measures to combat victimization should be based on the dominance of the information component of counteraction aimed at preventing dangerous reactions, especially in the first hours after the commission of a terrorist act, the development and demonstration of optimal behavioral algorithms. Keywords: indirect witnesses, terrorist attack, psychological measures, induced behavior, optimal algorithms


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