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LETTER TO EDITOR |
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Year : 2020 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 8 | Page : 4489 |
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COVID-19 and mental health
Reena Doomra
Department of Pharmacology, Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad, Haryana, India
Date of Submission | 09-May-2020 |
Date of Decision | 14-Jun-2020 |
Date of Acceptance | 16-Jun-2020 |
Date of Web Publication | 25-Aug-2020 |
Correspondence Address: Dr. Reena Doomra Department of Pharmacology, Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad, Haryana India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_812_20
How to cite this article: Doomra R. COVID-19 and mental health. J Family Med Prim Care 2020;9:4489 |
Dear Editor,
In your earlier issue, the letter “COVID-19 – An avoidable epidemic: A family medicine practitioner's perspective” (2020;9:2132–3) very well highlights the role of family medicine practitioners wherein they can play an important role in preventing infectious pandemics.[1] These are testing times when everyone is scared of COVID-19 pandemic, with an underlying concern regarding the mental and emotional health, as the outbreak of a global pandemic has a psychosocial bearing on the individuals. Stress and anxiety may manifest itself differently in different individuals. It appears that almost everyone has been affected by the crisis in some or the other way.
As we are in the digital era with a quick transmission and exchange of information from every corner of the world in few seconds, there may be emotional, mental, and physical problems associated with fear in the minds of people, as people are having enough time to read and listen to the news. This may lead to an increase in emotional, mental, behavioral, and physical problems in individuals.
Family medicine practitioners can play a pivotal role here by making their patients understand that some stress and anxiety is normal, during such times. Family medicine practitioners should also give importance to mental health along with physical health of their patients. They should focus on maintaining a healthy body with a healthy mind and guide them. The individuals may have overt or covert symptoms due to stress and anxiety. The overt symptoms may manifest in some individuals as physical and behavioral changes, which may include anorexia, nausea, overeating, or headache. There may be aggravation of chronic health problems, increase in alcohol intake, tobacco, or drugs like benzodiazepines. The behavioral symptoms may be associated with insomnia, irritation, or wanting to remain in isolation. Patients with obsessive compulsive disorder may have obsession of contamination of hands, leading to compulsive hand washing, which may increase during such times.[2] Covert symptoms may include emotional and cognitive aspects that manifest in an individual as undue stress and anxiety.[3]
The elderly population, people with chronic diseases, doctors,[4] nurses, and paramedical workers should be treated with respect, especially during these times of global crisis. The family medicine practitioners can greatly help our society by creating awareness about the disease and facts related to it and thus help the individuals cope up with stress and anxiety.
Thank you.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
References | |  |
1. | Tanwar P, Mourya M, Kumar R. COVID-19 – An avoidable epidemic: A family medicine practitioner's perspective. J Family Med Prim Care 2020;9:2132-3. [Full text] |
2. | Banerjee D. The other side of COVID-19: Impact on obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and hoarding. Psychiatry Res 2020;288:112966. |
3. | Galea S, Merchant RM, Lurie N. The mental health consequences of COVID-19 and physical distancing: The need for prevention and early intervention. JAMA Intern Med 2020. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.1562. |
4. | Doomra R. Healing touch of doctors – Today, tomorrow and always. J Family Med Prim Care 2019;8:3769.  [ PUBMED] [Full text] |
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