Quarantine & Mental Health

It started as a joke or even as a gimmick, but sadly it has turned into our reality for over five months over the past year. I’m referring to the current situation we’re experiencing right now as a result of the spread of COVID-19, which has led the majority of the population to a massive lockdown. It’s one of the worst consequences a man can experience, to have his freedom taken away, even in this way.

In this instance, we are going to focus on the mental aspects of this pandemic and its concurrent isolation for each and every one of us.
Here lay below some of the pillars of this mental construction of ours:

1. Depression & Post — Traumatic disorder increased by a third.
   It is stellar! We’re dealing with an extreme occasion and indeed it exhibits unique results. According to surveys conducted by *Hawryluck et al.* a third of the participants have experienced increased symptoms associated with psychological disorders and PTSD. The longer their quarantine lasted, the worse their results were. It is extremely worrying and agonising to see our fellow humans suffer in a way like this. It is noteworthy that most of the health care workers in the same survey were much more affected in a non-forgiving way and all of their symptoms were multiplied, especially in comparison to the majority of the rest of the population. *Taylor et al* have reported “increased anger, feeling of guilt, helplessness, nervousness, loneliness and sadness ” in most occasions as a result of home restriction for our health care workers.
2. Psycho — social footprint of mass quarantine.
   Implementation of a massive quarantine states beforehand that the situation has worsened and it is about to get even worse sooner, so for the vast majority of our people that signals a sense of being trapped and a perception of loss of control. Trust is significantly reduced among others and stress keeps on increasing worryingly. However, as psychologist Holt — Lunstad at Brigham Young University suggests “social contacts can buffer the negative effects of stress”. People of all ages are susceptible to the ill effects of social isolation like anxiety, depression and heart disease. And others may be even more susceptible. Anyhow, Holt — Lunstad warns us that in such estranged periods of time comes a collective wave of hysteria, which leads to desperate measures.

Conclusion

Quarantine time is recommended to be filled with physical, cognitive, relaxation exercises, reading and entertainment. It is the best possible way for everyone to persevere and protect their own personal health and state of mind in such worrying times as the ones we ‘re living through right now. Otherwise, risks of depression and social intoxication in any way, shape or form may not be as distant as we think they are.