Explained: Why mental health took a turn for the worse with Covid-19

Globally, mental health issues worsened dramatically in 2020 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Maliha Hasham Sable, founder and director at The Healthy Mind; Mental Health Clinician, discusses how Covid-19 has impacted mental health, the rise in suicide rates and the road to recovery.

How is Covid-19 affecting mental health?

During Covid-19, fear has commonly spread amongst the world's population and it has led to a sudden rise in various symptoms associated with mental illness.

For many, stress levels have increased due to several contributing factors that acts as an underlying risk to various mental disorders. People in quarantine and isolation are affected by increasing loneliness, anxiety, worry, nervousness and insomnia.

Similarly, Covid-19 patients experience a sudden rise in mental health symptoms due to their underlying conditions, causing delirium, agitation, stroke, separation from loved ones and fear associated with the Covid-19. We have seen changes in the world's economy by far, leading to increased financial stress in the worldly population.

What are some of the mental health challenges after Covid-19 recovery?

Through the Covid-19 recovery, it becomes difficult to cope with the mental health symptoms of the illness quickly.

People might find it difficult to work productively right after the recovery. They might develop anxiety, depression, PTSD, with difficulty in concentration and memory. Seeking mental health support at the earliest helps in timely diagnosis and quality treatment to reduce the mental health challenges and risk of several mental disorders.

What are some of the challenges of mental health during a lockdown?

Mental health challenges can be seen from children to adults and the elderly, with their feeling of loneliness and an increase in the level of aggression and frustration, sleeplessness and or sleeping more than usual.

Poor adaption to sudden changes in daily functioning has increased stress amongst individuals from all age groups, which has reported significant risks of depression, anxiety, drug misuse, addictions, and other mental disorders.

Has there been an increase in children's mental health issues post-Covid-19?

According to Dr Sable, there has been an increase in children's mental health post-Covid-19. Children tend to have different emotional needs, social isolation and loneliness has impacted the children's mental health.

As a result, excessive worries and anxiousness has been reported amongst most children. Along with that, difficulty concentrating, irritability, restlessness and nervousness has increased post Covid-19. Seeking help from mental health professionals can help children combat their mental health issues quickly.

Has there been an increase in suicide rates during a lockdown?

In 2020, WHO estimated that 1.53 million people would die from suicide, representing one death every 20 seconds and one attempt every one to two seconds.

The suicidal rates across the world have not been fully examined yet, a limited number of studies draw attention to during lockdown the tremendous growth in mental disorders have been reported associated with the increased level of stress, loneliness, economic difficulties, the uncertainty of times and anxiety associated with the infection.