COVID-19: Mental health consequences and strategies put in place to overcome them from the perspective of young adults experiencing social precarity and substance use in Montreal.

Abstract

This study explores the impact of the pandemic on mental health and the strategies put in place to overcome these challenges, from the perspective of young adults who experience social precarity and PS use in Montreal. This collaborative study used a descriptive qualitative design. Ten semi-directed interviews were conducted with young adults aged 18 to 30 years old who experience social precarity and PS use and were analysed thematically. Results demonstrate that participants experienced increased loneliness, psychological distress, and PS use resulting from the sanitary measures. They demonstrated capacities to rely on personal resources to promote harm reduction, resilience, self-entertainment, emotional and social support. The impacts of COVID-19 on mental health demonstrate the importance of maintaining and increasing psychosocial services’ offer in a pandemic context and to better adapt them to the realities of young adults, while also acknowledging and accounting for their strengths and capacities.