Mental health is a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being. Mental health issues and disorders are common and frustrating in the best of times , it happens due to several factors related to one's daily life ''work, relationships, school , family and even other health issues. A clear example of this last one ''the Corona virus'', emerged initially from China in 2019 and travelled all over the world to be announced on 2020 as a global pandemic, closing everything and putting the plant in quarantine. Naturally such a disaster will lead to a huge human loss, medical and economic crisis and of course psychological issues.
As mentioned above , in order to respond to such a global health crisis, quarantine and lock down measures were put by international and government health organizations to face the rapid spread of the virus, which leads to suspension of flights, avoidance of large gatherings, obligation to use face mask in many countries, social distancing, teleworking, home-schooling of children, closing of entertainment facilities and orders to stay at home .
All this regulations and charges that popped suddenly into people's daily lives effected their mental health in multiple ways. Generally such infortune events cause stress, anxiety, and depression among people specially elderly people already dealing with mental health issues. Also according to ''Psychiatry of Pandemics A Mental Health Response to Infection Outbreak'' book written about this matter , individuals and small groups Faced with sudden isolation and quarantine, can react with fear and anxiety which can give way to depression and despair or anger. Depending on the circumstances, the issue of isolation or quarantine may represent a precipitating traumatic event for the individuals involved. Depression, just like anxiety, is a part of a natural response to a sudden worsening in living circumstances. A study launched for the adults in The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) between 11 may and 15 Jun 2020 in eighteen country in this region including Algeria, shows that about 40% of the participants reported increased stress from work during the outbreak, 45.3% felt more stress from financial matters, and 60.3% of participants had increased stress from home during the pandemic. Furthermore, 61.0% of the participants felt horrified, 61.5% felt apprehensive, and 45.2% felt helpless due to the pandemic. Another study found about 11% caretakers have developed stress–reaction symptoms .Healthcare workers in such situations are subject to additional stress due to their involvement in the event. They maybe concerned about their health and the health of their families since they are in daily contact with the illness.
A choking information reported by the BBC says that In the US, a major legal contract-creation site announced a 34% rise in sales of its basic divorce agreement, which most of the couples discovered each other's true personalities during this lockdown. Not just like that the (MENA) study showed that 32.6% of the participants had family problems or anxiety form it ; due to the long duration spent at home doing nothing siblings raise hate and seek fights over simple things, experts blamed the change in their lifestyles especially if they were used to be around each other for such a long time . However, quarantine didn't provoke negative feedback only, on another hand the (MENA) study confirmed the improvement of family relations and rebuilding trust between them .The results showed that 42.1% of the participants reported receiving much support from family members, 24.3% received it from friends, and 48.1% stated an increase of feeling’s sharing with their family members during the pandemic. In addition, the majority of participants (67.4%) cared more about their family members’ feelings following the onset of the pandemic .
Despite the unprecedented and uncertain circumstances and psychological problems caused by the novel of pandemics in general and the coronavirus outbreak in special, people were able to perceive positive outcomes, and the majority reported stable and high levels of relaxation and mental health and well-being.
Lakhder BOUTALBI
(Partenariat "LIBERTÉ-Digital"/"Charrette-club")
