How COVID-19 and the confinement can affect people’s emotions and

mental health?
In the last several months, the world has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This
is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. Most people infected
with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover
without requiring special treatment.
COVID-19 pandemic has caused the application of social distancing and stay-at-home
rules in several countries, including massive and obligated confinement. These measures
can have an adverse impact on mental and physical health of those that have become
affected for a short and long term period of time. But what is mental health?

Mental Health
Mental health is an important part of overall health and wellbeing. It affects how we think,
feel, and act. It may also affect how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices
during an emergency.
People with pre-existing mental health conditions or substance use disorders may be
particularly vulnerable in an emergency. Mental health conditions (such as depression,
anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia) affect a person’s thinking, feeling, mood or
behavior in a way that influences their ability to relate to others and function each day.
These conditions may be situational (short-term) or long-lasting (chronic). But how can
COVID-19 affect people’s mental health?

Pandemics can be stressful

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has been proven to be stressful for
people. Fear and anxiety about this unknown disease and what could happen to them as a
result, can be overwhelming and can cause strong emotions in adults and children. Public
health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can
increase levels of stress and anxiety. But what does the study say about this?
A new study carried out by researchers from the SPECS lab of IBEC published in the
prestigious journal PLOS One shows that the COVID-19 related confinement has had an
overall negative impact on overall wellness of individuals, which correlates with a dislike
for working from home, a longing for the quality of pre-pandemic life, and living alone.

How confinement can affect people’s emotions?

Like in all countries around the world, the government is responding to the COVID-19
pandemic by introducing measures such as social-distancing, quarantine and isolation.
While necessary, these measures can have a significant effect on our emotional wellbeing.
Fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and grief are compounded from students being away from
schools. Those individuals who have had to work remotely from home have had to adjust
to new ways of learning and working, as well as balancing work from home and childcare
responsibilities. Anxiety has created fear of some individuals with the despair of losing
their jobs and family income.
After a few weeks under stay-at-home order, most of us are finding our way forward by
adjusting our routines and practicing social distancing to care for our physical health.
However, this life-altering pandemic has also affected our mental well-being, as the
constant flow of information and all of the uncertainties that surrounds us can be hard to
process emotionally.
Now, more than ever, we’re also experiencing the heightened emotions of those that we
are in quarantine namely with family members, roommates, and so forth. These can also
be difficult to manage in addition to managing our responsibilities.
It can also be stressful to be separated from others if you have or were exposed to COVID-
19. Each person ending a period of home isolation may feel differently about it.

Emotional reactions may include:

• Mixed emotions, including relief.
• Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones.
• Stress from the experience of having COVID-19 and monitoring yourself or being
monitored by others.
• Sadness, anger, or frustration because friends or loved ones have fears of getting the
disease from you, even though you are cleared to be around others.
• Guilt about not being able to perform normal work or parenting duties while you had
COVID-19.
• Additional concerns that of getting re-infected or sick again even though you have
already had COVID-19.
• Other emotional or mental health changes.

How COVID-19 can affect children’s emotions?

Children may also feel upset or have other strong emotions if they, or someone they know,
has been diagnosed with COVID-19, even if they are now better and able to be around
others again.

Depression caused by confinement and the COVID-19 pandemic

In the U.S., nearly half the respondents to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll felt the
pandemic was harming their mental health—and that picture is repeated around the world.
The stress of social isolation, the worry about jobs, money, and health, and the profound
feelings of loss that many of us are experiencing at the moment can trigger depression for
the first time or exacerbate symptoms if you’ve already been diagnosed.

What is depression?
Depression (major depressive disorder) is a common and serious medical illness that
negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Fortunately, it is also
treatable. Depression causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once
enjoyed. It can lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems and can decrease a
person’s ability to function at work and at home.
Among much global health, economic and social disruptions, the COVID-19 coronavirus
outbreak has forced millions to physically isolate. Combined that with extensive news
coverage on the pandemic and an unknown future, and it's no wonder that anxiety is on
the rise.

What is anxiety?
Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders characterized by significant feelings of
anxiety and fear. Anxiety is an unknown negative outlook about future events, while fear
is a reaction to current events. These feelings may cause physical symptoms, such as an
increased heart rate and shakiness

Experience of people with depression or anxiety due to the COVID-19

pandemic
Former First Lady Michelle Obama revealed last week that she is one of those people
battling “low-grade depression,” and she has lots of company. One in three Americans is
dealing with symptoms of stress or anxiety, according to data from the U.S. Census
Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics.
Stigma has surrounded mental health for years, Dr. Harris said. “now, with increased
stressors such as job loss and financial insecurity, as well as the physical distancing
required to limit the spread of the coronavirus, the risk of depression and anxiety is even
more prevalent.” Having a recognizable figure such as Michelle Obama openly
acknowledging her struggles is helpful to dispel that negative stigma.

Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations

How you respond to stress during the COVID-19 pandemic can depend on your
background, your social support from family or friends, your financial situation, your
health and emotional background, the community you live in, and many other factors.
The changes that can happen because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ways we try to
contain the spread of the virus can affect anyone.

People who may respond more strongly to the stress of a crisis include:
-People who are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19 (for example,
older people, and people of any age with certain underlying medical conditions).
-Children and teens.
-People caring for family members or loved ones.
-Frontline workers such as health care providers and first responders,
-Essential workers who work in the food industry.
-People who have existing mental health conditions.
-People who use substances or have a substance use disorder.
-People who have lost their jobs, had their work hours reduced, or have had other
major changes to their employment.
-People who have disabilities or developmental delay.
-People who are socially isolated from others, including people who live alone,
and people in rural or frontier areas.
-People experiencing homelessness.
Time and research will be of the essence when deducing the long-term consequences of
the Covid-19 pandemic for global mental health and emotional well-being. Prior reports
from viral outbreaks and emerging evidence from the recent pandemic point towards a
potential “tsunami” of stress-related disorders in the aftermath of such traumatic events.

How Can I know if I am starting to develop depression or anxiety by the

COVID-19 pandemic?
The emotions connected to COVID-19 include anxiety about health and finances,
uncertainty about the length of the quarantine, anger over loss of control, a sense of
loneliness and, ultimately fear of the unknown.
If not processed properly, these emotions can get to the point where they interfere with
your ability to be your best self. When they start to affect your health, relationships and
job, it’s time for an intervention.

These are some signs that it’s time to reach out for help:
- Decreased concentration
- Irritability
- Lack of interest in things that previously were interesting
- Loss of appetite or overeating
- Inability to sleep or sleeping too much
- Increased use of drugs and alcohol

What can help us eliminate or reduce these negative feelings and the
stress of being in the COVID-19 pandemic?
When you are suffering from depression, life can seem overwhelmingly bleak and
hopeless. It can interfere with your ability to think straight, drain your energy, and make
it difficult to get through the day. Even as some countries and regions begin to ease stay-
at-home restrictions, it seems unlikely that life will fully return to normal any time soon.
However, no matter what constraints you are living under at the moment, these strategies
can help you counteract loneliness, ease negative thoughts, improve your mood, and cope
with symptoms of depression.

Practicing healthy ways to cope

Whether you are managing your own emotions, your families’ or both, it’s important to
find healthy coping mechanisms so you don’t become overwhelmed or take out your
emotions on each other.
As a society, we have never been through anything like this before, and the feelings you’re
experiencing because of it are normal. Try your best to give yourself a break and find
something healthy to help you get through.
Establish a routine
Find a daily routine that works within the current situation and follow it as best you can
for more structure — similar to a usual day.

Eat healthy
Maintain a healthy meal plan, eating at regularly scheduled times, and try new recipes to
keep your diet interesting.

Keep moving
Try different exercises to keep your body healthy, including stretching, walking laps
outside, online workout classes, or even standing up during meetings or Zoom calls.

Connect with others

Use technology to bridge gaps and support each other. Reach out to family and friends
via FaceTime, Skype, texting or social media.

Write in a journal
Journaling can be a great way to express and process your emotions. And try to also
identify things you’re grateful for during this time.

Take care of yourself and your community

Taking care of your friends and your family can be a stress reliever, but it should be
balanced with care for yourself. Helping others cope with their stress, such as by
providing social support, can also make your community stronger. During times of
increased social distancing, people can still maintain social connections and care for their
mental health. Phone calls or video chats can help you and your loved ones feel socially
connected, less lonely, or isolated.

Change your focus

There’s no easy fix for recovering from depression and finding the energy and motivation
to take the first step can be tough. But you have more control over your mood than you
may realize.
It’s true that these are painful and worrying times, and few people have much to be
cheerful about at the moment. But at the same time, depression can make things seem
even worse than they really are. When you’re depressed, everything is filtered through a
lens of negativity. By simply recognizing that, you can start to change your focus and
take the first step to feeling more optimistic.

Limit your consumption of news.

Yes, you want to stay informed, but overconsuming sensationalistic news or unreliable
social media coverage will only fuel your negativity and fear. Limit how often you check
news or social media and confine yourself to reputable sources.
In conclusion, it’s important that we don’t let all these negative feelings and problems
that we have due to the COVID-19 pandemic affect our mental health. It’s normal for us
to have these negative feelings, but it depends on us if we will let it affect us.