Coronavirus pandemic could have 'considerable impact' on mental health: Experts

Underlining the adverse impact of coronavirus pandemic on global mental health, a new study calls for more funding for research to study how coronavirus affects the mental well-being of the society.

In a paper published in Lancet Psychiatry, a panel of 24 experts highlighted why more funds are required as people are already experiencing mental trauma and fears.

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Two accompanied surveys of the UK people showed that most people questioned revealed their increased anxiety and fear of facing a mental illness since the outbreak began.

Lead author Emily Holmes from Uppsala University's department of psychology said that already we are dealing with "unprecedented uncertainty and major changes" in our lifestyle due to coronavirus.

"Our surveys show these changes are already having a considerable impact on our mental health," Holmes said.

The authors called for real-time of anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide across the world, along with the development of treatment programmes that can be accessed remotely.

"This needs to be on a bigger scale than we have ever seen previously, and must be coordinated, targeted and comprehensive," said Matthew Hotopf, from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience.

"Above all, we want to stress that all new interventions must be informed by top notch research to make sure they work."

Studies have found that SARS and other disease outbreaks have led to an increase in suicide rates and a number of health care workers experienced emotional troubles.

The results of the surveys showed a large number of 3,000 people who were a part of the study, felt a lot of varied fears because of the outbreak, which include fear of becoming mentally ill and increased anxiety.

The experts also warned that these fears could continue even after the lockdown is lifted in the near future.

"Increased social isolation, loneliness, health anxiety, stress and an economic downturn are a perfect storm to harm people's mental health and wellbeing," said Rory O'Connor, professor of Health Psychology at the University of Glasgow.

He warned inadequate intervention could lead not only to anxiety and depression but drug and alcohol addiction too.

"The scale of this problem is too serious to ignore, both in terms of every human life that may be affected, and in terms of the wider impact on society," O'Connor said.

(With AFP inputs)