COVID-19 as a psychological contagion: A new Pandora’s box to close?

Azim, Dua; Kumar, Sohail; Nasim, Sundus; Arif, Taha Bin; Nanjiani, Deedar

doi:10.1017/ice.2020.127

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…With the free availability and access to internet and social media platforms there is significant concerns about the real versus fake news [ 3 , 20 ]. Experience from Korea and Vietnam emphasises the need of a public system to verify the validity of information available [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological impact of mass quarantine on population during pandemics—The COVID-19 Lock-Down (COLD) study

et al. 2020

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Background Quarantine often is an unpleasant experience. The aim of this study is to explore the degree of psychological distress in terms of-Depression, Anxiety and Stress among the adult population in India during the strict 21 days mandatory lockdown. We hypothesize that quantification of psychological impact of current situation will help us to modify the policies and implementation strategies. This assessment might also help in future to keep targeted services in place, to cope up with the psychological distress of the quarantined population. Method A cross sectional survey design was adopted to assess the psychological state of general population in India, during the COVID-19 mandatory lockdown period, with the help of a validated questionnaire. Findings The reported prevalence of depression was around 30.5%, which was the highest among the variables of psychological health. Anxiety was reported by 22.4%, followed by stress which was seen in 10.8% of respondents. In the third week the incidence of depression (37.8% versus 23.4%; p<0.001), anxiety (26.6% versus 18.2%; p<0.001) and stress (12.2% versus 9.3%; p<0.045) was reported to be significantly higher as compared to second week. Interpretation Our results suggest a progressively detrimental impact of lockdown on various aspects of psychological health. We noticed around eight to ten fold increase in the prevalence of depression (30.5%) and anxiety (22.4%) during lockdown, as compared to baseline

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Psychological impact of mass quarantine on population during pandemics—The COVID-19 Lock-Down (COLD) study

et al. 2020

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“…In pandemic situations, other people represent potential threats to one's own survival, and intense fear for contagion is a natural psychological reaction to these events [12]. In cluster A PDs, patients', however, fear of contagion may intensify pre-existing paranoid tendencies and exacerbate suspect toward others, by supporting pre-existing persecutory representations of others.…”

Section: Negative Psychological Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality Disorders in Time of Pandemic

Preti

Pierro

Fanti

et al. 2020

Curr Psychiatry Rep

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Purpose of Review We report evidence on the negative psychological effects of pandemics in people with personality disorders (PDs) and on the role of personality pathology in compliance with mitigation-related behaviors. Considering the paucity of studies, after a description of the main features of PDs, on the basis of the current literature on pandemic and quarantine mental health impact, we trace some clinical hypotheses. Recent Findings Paranoid traits and detachment (cluster A) might lead to worse psychological outcomes. Cluster B patients may show more intense stress-related reactions and react strongly to social distancing, especially considering borderline personality disorder. Cluster C patients might be particularly prone to anxiety and stress due to fear of contagion and may be less flexible in adaptation to new routines. Evidence on compliance with mitigation measures is mixed, with lower compliance in cluster B patients and higher in cluster C ones. Summary We suggest that PD patients might be particularly affected by pandemics. Furthermore, they might react differently, according to their main diagnosis. Similarly, compliance with mitigation measures may differ according to specific PDs. Our results should be considered as a starting point to reflect on therapeutic strategies to be adopted in the post-COVID-19 situation.

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“…Proper measures or interventions by governments, media, healthcare professionals, communities and families may help people to cope their cognitive, emotional and behavioral issues during the pandemic. In this respect governments or concerned authorities should form taskforces including psychiatrists, psychologists, and other heath-related professionals for providing immediate first aid services to the COVID-19-related psychological issues of people and also help governments for designing policy interventions (Azim et al, 2020). In order to functioning a resilient society properly, taking care of individuals' mental health is also compulsory which could be achieved during the COVID-19 pandemics by using the following measures or interventions; monitoring assessment of the body, nurturing attachment security, improving emotional regulation, adopting acceptance, and promoting social responsibility (for further details, see Schimmenti et al, 2020).…”

Section: Recommendations: Paternalistic Role Of Governmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral limitations of individuals for coping with COVID-19: A terror management perspective

Ahmed¹,

Ahmed²,

Barkat³

2020

Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment

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Authorities and policymakers have been advocating people to follow the traditional personal protective measures (e.g., social distancing) to avoid COVID-19 disease and to reduce its spread further. Based on terror management theory (TMT) and individuals' bounded rationality (BR), this study designs a conceptual framework to examine psychological limitations of people for obeying the experts' instructionsparticularly, social distancing-during the pandemic. This is because, contrary to "social distancing," humans subconsciously use centuriesold defense mechanisms-seeking close relationships, validation or modification of cultural worldviews, and enhancement of selfesteem-by "social gatherings" for the sake of buffering their own paralyzing terror of death in time of a large scale mortality salience (e.g., COVID-19). This study argues that in pandemics in which diseases spread due to human interactions, societies need to trade-off between reducing human or economic losses by imposing immediate stringent restrictions on people movements (e.g., lockdowns) versus mitigating pandemic related psychological or mental issues by allowing them to use anxiety reduction buffering mechanisms (e.g., social gatherings). By studying people's recent responses to the COVID-19 outbreak and given their BR, this study proposes that governments' interventions are needed to curtail the disease spreading and its associated costs further. In addition, several recommendations for interventions are suggested.

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COVID-19 as a psychological contagion: A new Pandora’s box to close?

Cited by 23 publications

References 9 publications

Psychological impact of mass quarantine on population during pandemics—The COVID-19 Lock-Down (COLD) study

Psychological impact of mass quarantine on population during pandemics—The COVID-19 Lock-Down (COLD) study

Personality Disorders in Time of Pandemic

Behavioral limitations of individuals for coping with COVID-19: A terror management perspective

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