Mental health in 2021: What we will experience and overcome

As the physical risks are better managed with vaccines, the indelible impact of the pandemic on the collective psyche.

“The physical aspects of the pandemic are really visible,” said Lisa Carlson, the immediate former president of the American Public Health Association and an executive administrator of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “We have a shortage of supplies and economic stress, fear of disease, all our disrupted routines, but there’s really a sadness in it.”

“We do not have a vaccine for our mental health like for our physical health,” Carlson added. “So it will take longer to get out of those challenges.”

These are the issues that mental health workers expect to emerge in 2021, based on the mental struggle that so many have experienced this year.

Burnout and sedentarism

Life was stressful before the pandemic, but new challenges took an extra toll. Virtual homeschooling, staying safe, financial problems, counting, keeping up with new information and dealing with illness and death can make life feel like an endless game of Whac-a-Mole.

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Isolation, which can lead to loneliness, has hit people of all ages. Many children and adolescents have missed opportunities that are important to social development.

Carlson said how to deal with stress is crucial to finding respite, and it’s back to basics. Being safe outside and outside trees, which Carlson thinks of “as part of the public health team”, can improve your health. Take time to switch off and disconnect the news if you can.

It will be critical to focus on ‘the basics of sleeping, eating healthy meals, moving through the day, spending time with pets and loved ones’. “Taking care of ourselves and each other should all be in the focus of the 2021 year.”

When the pandemic sabotages, sleep

As more time at home has meant more slumber for some, the strange ‘pandemic dreams’ that people are talking about this year have greater opportunities to show up, said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a pulmonary and sleep physician and an assistant professor of clinical medicine, told Keck. School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.

Stress, trauma and new challenges are other factors that have led to sleep disorders and disorders. People at the forefront of health care, those who have witnessed death, and individuals trapped on cruise ships can experience post-traumatic stress disorder that can lead to insomnia and nightmares. “There are things you see that are just etched in your mind,” Dasgupta said.

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Lack of separation between work and home can mean irregular sleep patterns. The pandemic ‘threw a curve in our circadian rhythm,’ he added.

Dasgupta also said that ‘many people gain weight’. “Weight has always been a risk factor when we talk about things like obstructive sleep apnea.” Sleep apnea is associated with a higher risk of developing depression and anxiety.

As sleep quality is linked to mental health, it is very important to get enough sunlight for a normal circadian rhythm in 2021, to develop a sleep routine and to practice relaxation techniques.

Some disorders thrive in isolation

Without support and accountability, some people’s recovery from eating disorders and drug use disorders has hit a wall.

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The ‘collective trauma’ people experience contributes to increased anxiety, depression and other mental health factors commonly associated with eating disorders, ‘Chelsea Kronengold, communications manager of the National Eating Disorders Association, said in an email.

Challenges included concerns about a lack of structure, more time in a congenital environment and problems finding privacy for telecom health sessions and other virtual support. Some people with eating disorders have also experienced increased symptoms, such as food restriction, or relapse.

For those who are not ready to recover or are still active in their disorders, isolation was an opportunity to maintain disorderly conduct – an opportunity for which some may be grateful while others are upset.

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“Not only do eating disorders thrive in isolation,” Kronengold said, “there are also feelings of anxiety and guilt about the possibility of consuming too little food and / or having too much food available at all times.”

The relapse of drugs on opioids increased during the pandemic, and the increase in drug use disorders may increase as the pandemic continues.

“We do not experience the same risks”

For many, work is another source of spiritual challenge.

People who can not hide and work at home, can not avoid public transport or can not build up food, can get an extra blow to their mental stability. Some fundamentals needed to support mental health are related to work, Carlson said. Losing a job can therefore also mean that you lose your health insurance, childcare or paid sick leave.

“We were in danger before the pandemic,” Carlson said. “Colored communities suffer even more, and there are many that we do not know, because there is a lack of reporting on race statistics to really understand our impact.”

Native Americans’ access to mental health services for discussions has further diminished, and things cannot improve By the end of 2021, Jacque Gray said by email. Gray is the associate director of the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota, where she is also an associate professor.

“I know of one tribe where they had suicides between 20 and 40 years old,” Gray added. “Children are raised by grandparents, without support for the children or help for grandparents.”

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Some studies have “found a large increase in depression, especially among Asians,” said Dr. Tina Cheng, chair of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation. Asian Americans and Chinese Americans reported experiencing negative mental health symptoms as a result of pandemic-related racism.

It is expected that pandemic-specific consequences for human existence and well-being will enhance an increase in mental health in American society ‘, said Jasmine Mena, an assistant professor of psychology at Bucknell University in Lewisburg. , Pennsylvania, said.

Frontline workers are another group for whom the pandemic is inevitable. Limited personal protective equipment, long working days, illnesses and deaths of patients and colleagues, exposure to Covid-19 and separation from home have weakened many health workers. “Even outside the pandemic, you are talking about a vulnerable population,” said Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s chief medical correspondent, told CNN’s television program “New Day”.

“To get out of the challenges of mental health, we’ll have to work together to do that,” Carlson said.

The demand for mental health pandemic is overwhelming

Many people who have been gripped by anxiety and depression before the pandemic experience their levels of insecurity, fear and anxiety double or worse. Excessive hand washing and fear of pollution can be hallmarks of obsessive-compulsive disorder – now and in the future some people with OCD may feel comforted by the public’s acceptance of safety behaviors, but also struggle not to become increasingly obsessive.

For some people in the LGBTQ + community, the pandemic means they have to take refuge in people who do not accept their gender or sexual orientation. Such objections are sometimes voiced by violence, which can continue as the pandemic does. Suicide thoughts are highest among youth in 2020, but especially among young LGBTQ + people.

“The simple fact is that inequality kills,” Carlson said. “We are seeing the unequal things that are directly affecting health in the pandemic and are really shedding light on issues that we knew were there, but which are now much harder to ignore.”

No longer infected, but still sick

Long haul is people who have not yet fully recovered from Covid-19 weeks or even months after they last had symptoms. In addition to the respiratory and neurological effects that some people experience long after they are no longer infected with coronavirus, mental effects also lasted.

While concerns about psychological distress during the pandemic have mostly focused on anxiety and quarantine measures, one study said, “a second wave of psychological illnesses due to viral illnesses may be imminent.”

Children struggle with Covid-19 and the months that follow

“People expect you to be sick for a while and then you get better,” Carlson said. ‘These long-time waiters who have been ill for months exceed their own expectations or the expectations of others.

“There is a real challenge to mental health,” she added. “It’s really going to cause struggle for them and their loved ones, and for how they feel other people feel about them.”

Silver liners of the pandemic

The mental burden of the pandemic has enabled more honesty and empathy around mental health, which is the key to dismantling the stigma that some people refrain from seeking help.

Another positive point is that more people have asked for help or served others – whether it is donating to an important cause, shopping for neighbors or encouraging those who serve the public. Being friendly has its own benefits for mental health.

Some people have found solace in telecom health services, which is a growing trend to get care which can be easier and more accessible. And many are engaged in hobbies and endeavors – including meditation, gardening, adopting pets, and baking bread – which can sometimes make you feel better.

“Here are definitely things that are going to make each other worse,” Carlson said. ‘I really hope, above all, that this is the moment when we break down barriers to talking about mental health, because I think the most important thing we can do – as professionals and in our families and in our communities – is to talk about it. .

“Every time we talk about public health, we need to talk about mental health. And every time we talk about Covid-19, we need to talk about mental health.”

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