" On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that COVID-19 had reached the level of a global pandemic...
Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights everyone has the right to “the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.” Governments are obligated to take effective steps for the “prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases.”
- Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Dimensions of COVID-19 Response, Mar. 19, 2020.
United States: Mental Health and COVID-19
" HARRISBURG, Pa (WJAC) — Mental health experts say self-isolation could have a long-term psychological impact on people.
Depending on the person, it could be short term or long term.
Thus, when this crisis is over, some people may be fearful to go outside or return to their normal lives before the pandemic.
Mental health experts say some people dealing with anxiety could be showing signs of an acute stress disorder, a short-term reaction to situations like COVID-19.
They say this could also be a trigger for those already suffering from PTSD."
-6WAJC Staff. UPMC psychologist discusses mental health impact of COVID-19 on patients with PTSD, trauma. WJAC. Apr. 25, 2020.
CBS "Jamye Coffman, M.D., medical director of the Cook Children’s Center for Prevention and Child Abuse and Neglect and the CARE team, believes these unprecedented times have simply become too much for some parents."
“People have so much increased stress right now,” Dr. Coffman said. “They’ve got financial stress. Some people lost their job or worried about keeping their current job. They lost their income. You’ve got stress from being overcrowded. Everyone’s cooped up together. They feel like they can’t get away from each other. These stressors can lead to abuse.”
- CBS DFW, North Texas Hospital Reports Spike in Severe Child Abuse Cases; Believe Linked to Stress from Coronavirus Pandemic, CBS News, Mar. 20, 2020.
"A child protective services worker in the Northeast sent a terrifying list of what kept her up at night: “That my families will literally run out of food, formula, diapers. That some of them may die for lack of treatment. That some children may be injured or harmed through inadequate supervision as their desperate parents try to work. That stress may lead to more child abuse.”
- Joaquin Sapien, Ginger Thompson, Beena Raghavendran & Megan Rose, Domestic Violence and Child Abuse will Rise During Quarantines. So will Neglect of At-Risk People, Social Workers Say, ProPublica, Mar. 21, 2020.
" When intensive care unit (ICU) nurse Núria Burló Arévalo first heard about the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China, she never thought it would reach her small city of Tarragona, Spain, some 100 kilometers west of Barcelona. But 1 month ago, the virus hit her city hard. Within 1 week, her hospital went from having one case of COVID-19 to 14 seriously ill patients, including young people without any underlying conditions. Since March, 63 members of the hospital staff have been infected with coronavirus."
"Long hours, high risk of infection, and crushing uncertainty about how the pandemic will progress—and who will get the disease next—have led to high anxiety among health care workers at John XXIII University Hospital. “We’re in a warlike situation,” Burló Arévalo says. “You feel like you’re in a trench.”
- Rodrigo Perez Ortega, Health Care Workers Seek to Flatten COVID-19's Second Curve - Their Rising Mental Anguish, Science Magazine, Apr. 22, 2020.
" Mental health services were a big part of the state's COVID-19 press conference on Saturday.
Kedzie Center Director Dr. Angela Sedeno said the center is seeing an increase in calls related to anxiety, loneliness, and grief.
She said the calls have been from people of all ages.
There are statewide resources available for those struggling with their mental health during the coronavirus pandemic.
"There is value in being listened to and feeling understood and knowing that you're not alone," Sedeno said. "This is a time to take extra gentle care of yourself without judgement."
-WICS/WRSP Staff. Mental health resources, hotlines available during pandemic. News Channel ABC 20. Apr. 25, 2020
"Hospitals across the U.S. – from Seattle to New York City – have launched similar initiatives in what they see as the next phase in the war against coronavirus: protecting healthcare staff from serious mental fallout after weeks of fighting a relentless virus.
A study released last month looking at the mental health outcomes of 1,257 health care workers attending to COVID-19 patients in 34 hospitals in China, where the outbreak started and where more than 4,600 people have died, found that 50% showed signs of depression, 45% reported anxiety and 72% had some form of psychological distress.
Starting in late March, the hospitals ramped up initiatives, such as a 24/7 mental health crisis line and one-on-one counseling, Ripp said. It also launched a wellness and resilience center that will track staffers' mental health long term."
Rick Jervis, 'Death is our greeter': Doctors, nurses struggle with mental health as coronavirus cases grow, USA TODAY, May 3, 2020
Mental Health: Puerto Rico and COVID-19
" ¡La cuarentena no es igual para todos(as)! es el grito que lanzan organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) y las comunidades alrededor de la isla frente a la gestión del Gobierno para atender la emergencia provocada por la epidemia del coronavirus (COVID-19)...La Mesa Social está integrada por organizaciones no gubernamentales (ONG) ya establecidas. En entrevista, la doctora Carmen Milagros Vélez Vega hizo alusión a que las ONG siguen trabajando con todos los problemas que había antes de la epidemia y del toque de queda. Según ella, “ahora es peor”. Comentó que Puerto Rico es un país ya traumatizado, que ha tenido una crisis sobre otra, que tiene muchos problemas de salud mental y que sus servicios están limitados. Mientras, tiene que atender la epidemia del coronavirus."
- Candida Cotto, La cuarentena no es igual para todas las personas, Claridad, May. 1. 2020
" Puerto Rico tiene que enfrentar la emergencia por la pandemia del COVID-19 sin perder de vista que sigue expuesto a eventos naturales que han dramatizado su vulnerabilidad física y social aún pendientes de atención...
Además del impacto físico, la intensidad de los eventos de los últimos tres años ha drenado la salud mental de los ciudadanos. Hay que desarrollar estrategias para este otro problema de salud pública a la par con los relacionados con el virus. A la mezcla de emociones causadas por la pandemia, el toque de queda y el distanciamiento social, se suman como agravante los nuevos temores por la actividad sísmica. Los estragos mentales aumentan por causa de la precariedad, empeorada por la pérdida de miles de empleos."
- Staff. La isla ante grande retos naturales y salubristas,El Nuevo Dia, May. 3. 2020
" La ansiedad, la depresión, el trastorno por estrés postraumático (PTSD, por sus siglas en inglés) y conductas impulsivas e incluso violentas podrían ser algunas de las maneras en que se manifestaría el trauma en los puertorriqueños por la pandemia del coronavirus (Covid-19).
Así lo planteó la Directora del Departamento de Psiquiatría de la Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR), Karen G. Martínez González, durante un programa televisado del Task Force Médico encargado de asesorar al Ejecutivo sobre cómo atender la emergencia."
-Genesis Ibarra Vazquez, La amenaza del coronavirus sobre la salud mental,El Vocero De Puerto Rico, Apr. 10. 2020
" El Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Estados Unidos (HHS, por sus siglas en inglés) asignó medio millón de dólares para servicios de salud mental en Puerto Rico, para manejar la emergencia por el coronavirus (Covid-19).
Estos fondos fueron asignados bajo la ley Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security (Cares Act), firmada por el presidente Donald Trump como parte de la respuesta federal por el novel virus.
“En momentos de tensión por la emergencia nacional que atravesamos, es importante que atendamos la salud mental de todos”, expresó la comisionada residente Jenniffer González."
- Staff, Asigan fondos federales para servicios de salud mental en la Isla, El Vocero De Puerto Rico, Apr. 17. 2020
" MCS se unió al reconocido experto financiero local Kenneth Rivera, para ofrecer a las empresas y proveedores de salud una serie de seminarios virtuales o webinars, sobre la disponibilidad de fondos de ayuda a través de la Ley de Ayuda, Alivio y Seguridad Económica por Coronavirus (CARES, por sus siglas en inglés)...“En este momento histórico en Puerto Rico, ahora más que nunca,.. Los proveedores de salud de Puerto Rico necesitan volver a la normalidad con urgencia."
- Staff, MCS ofrece webinars sobre Ley CARES, El Vocero De Puerto Rico, Apr. 29. 2020
" La emergencia sanitaria en Puerto Rico y las medidas impuestas para controlar la propagación del coronavirus han provocado que la ansiedad afecte a cerca del 40 % de la población de la isla, cuya ciudadanía todavía sufre las secuelas de huracanes y terremotos.
El presidente de la Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Psiquiatría, Edgardo Prieto, dijo este martes a Efe que el problema de la ansiedad afecta en estos momentos a cerca del 40 % de la población de la isla, en gran parte a causa de la incertidumbre y miedos provocados por el COVID-19."
- Staff, El COVID-19 eleva la ansiedad entre la poblacion de Puerto Rico, El Nuevo Herald, Mar. 21. 2020