[Mental health protection associated with COVID-19].

Ogłodek, Ewa A

Mental health is a state of mental well-being in which people are able to cope with stressful situations in life and can bring their life potential to their communities. Good mental health enables people to fulfill their roles in both family and society. When crises affect social life, people should be expected to experience high levels of stress. The COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the physical health crisis, may also contribute to the exacerbation of stress and the emergence of mental illnesses. Many individuals suffer due to forced isolation or feel socially excluded. Also, many of them fear infection, death and losing family members. Moreover, specific population groups show varying degrees of COVID-19-related psychological stress. The paper presents the psychological problems of the consequences of COVID-19 in society based on a review of the latest articles available in the PubMed and Google Scholar databases. The discussed material points to different needs in terms of psychological support in the society. People in unstable living conditions are at a greater risk of losing their mental health. Moreover, their mental health needs may be completely overlooked. Emotional difficulties may worsen among children and adolescents as a result of both family stress and social isolation. It is essential to include mental health protection in health policy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate the recovery of communities.