Mitigating the psychological effects of

social isolation during the covid-19

pandemic
Researches show that adults had been impacted by the psychological effects of social
isolation during the covid-19 pandemic, and there are ways to mitigate the adverse
effects of physical distancing.

By Danny You

March 26, 2023

During the covid-19 pandemic, physical distancing measures (also called social
distancing) have been implemented in many countries to interrupt viral transmission and
delay the spread of infection. These measures range from mandatory quarantine to
voluntary self isolation and have come at the cost of socially isolating many people,
putting their mental and emotional health at risk. Key areas of social interaction,
connection, and support have been affected by the closure of pubs, restaurants,
libraries, sports facilities, and community centres for the elderly, in addition to the
cancellation of sporting events, weddings, and funerals. The World Health Organization
and the UK government have issued guidance on the management of mental health
aspects of covid-19.

Researchers from the Population Health Research Institute, St.George University of

London and Boston University School of Public Health had found ways to identify and
manage adults impacted by the psychological effects of social isolation during the covid-
19 pandemic, and to mitigate the adverse effects of physical distancing. Primary care
has unique strengths, including continuity of care, that lend themselves to alleviating
psychological harm via evidence-based approaches including video consultations and
social prescribing.

The Psychological impacts of social isolation

Evidence from previous infectious outbreaks and pandemics demonstrates the

deleterious mental health and psychological effects of social isolation. For example,
after the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in the US, post-traumatic stress scores
were four times higher in quarantined children than in those who were not quarantined,
and 28% of quarantined parents reported symptoms of trauma related mental health
disorders compared with 6% of parents not quarantined.

Anxiety, low mood, stress, fear, frustration, and boredom may be precipitated by covid-
19 and its consequences, including restriction of movement; loss of social connections
and employment; loss of financial income; fear of contagion; or concern about lack of
access of basic needs such as medicines, food, or water. These symptoms may be
appropriate reactions to extreme circumstances but may hinder patients’ ability to
function.

Loneliness is a psychological manifestation of social isolation - commonly experienced

at times of change - and is associated with adverse impacts on mental and physical
health, including premature death at rates comparable to obesity and smoking. People
with serious underlying physical and mental health conditions, those who are
socioeconomically disadvantaged, or are elderly are at increased risk of loneliness.

Ways to approach patients

Primary care doctors providing patient-centred, longitudinal care are in a unique position
to provide psychological support and treatment during the current pandemic, since
continuity of care is associated with lower mortality rates and better patient outcomes.
Patients struggling with mental health impacts of social isolation can present for any
reason and may or may not openly report distressing psychological symptoms. Such
patients could be identified with existing simple and validated screening tools such as
using the rigorously tested UCLA Loneliness Scale to assess for distressing loneliness.

Evidence based strategies for managing the psychological

impacts of the covid-19 pandemic

The cornerstone of mental health treatment remains the same as in the pre-pandemic
period. Patients may need reassurance, appropriate safety-netting, and self care
advice. Decisions regarding mental health interventions for patients will depend on the
severity of symptoms and screening results, pre-existing mental health conditions,
available social resources, patient wishes, and the estimated risk of adverse health
outcomes. As in typical practice, specialist advice or referral to mental health services
may be required.

Telephone or online video consultations are safe and effective for providing support for
mental health in primary care, including counselling, coaching, and befriending. Video
consultations can provide additional visual information and therapeutic presence and
are particularly useful for anxious patients.

Social prescribing can improve the social and psychological wellbeing of patients by
drawing from community resources such as the arts (for example, singing in a virtual
choir, dancing, or online drawing classes). It can be delivered by trained non-clinical
staff in primary care.

WRIT 2
Danny You

Mar 26, 2023

Reflective Essay of Genre Translation of “Mitigating the psychological effects of social isolation

during the covid-19 pandemic”

I have learned a lot of things throughout this process of translation of my primary text.

My primary text is a peer-reviewed article. During this writing project, I translated the article

into a new non-academic genre, which is a news article. This is my very first time doing this kind

of translation. I have learned what genre is. “So a genre is an act of language—for our purposes

here, mostly acts of writing, in particular—that behaves in typical or characteristic ways, which

we can observe in repeated or persistent situations.” (Bickmore, 2022). The extra articles helped

a lot in clarifying what genre is and the difference between genres. I have learned that many

things are different between an academic article and a non-academic article. For example, the

audience and the discourse community of the two types of writing are different. The author needs

to consider what kind of language to use to make a rhetorical argument. “Learning about genres

and how they function is more important than mastering one particular genre; it is this

knowledge that helps us to recognize and to determine appropriate responses to different

situations—that is, knowing what particular genre is called for in a particular situation.” (Dirk,

2010). As Dirk said in his “Navigating Genres”, different genres have different functions and we

should know when to use which genre and what is the most appropriate choice for us. The author

also needs to choose his use of words and tones to represent the claim he is trying to make

through his article.

 My genre translation is from an article posted on a website into a news article. So the

intended audience of the article is still the same: to everyone who can access the article through

the internet. I chose this genre to translate into because I think that it is a good choice for a new

genre-translator like me. Since the two genres do not differ by a lot, I am able to keep most of the

information and change the genre by changing tone and use of words.

The transition and translation between the two genres is not as easy as I thought it would

be. Since it is my first time trying to translate an article into a new genre, I proceed with much

caution and try my best not to mess up the tone of my article. During the process of writing, I

often think over and over if the words I use and the way I phrase my sentences are too formal or

too informal. Thankfully we had the time to split this writing project into pieces (project

builders), so that the transition was much easier and smoother.

Since the primary text is translated into a new genre, the discourse community has also

changed. The discourse community of the new genre would be people having the habit to read

news. They usually scan through the news headlines to find the news articles they are somehow

interested in reading. I am not very confident if my headline is attractive enough for people to be

willing to read my news article. So I do not feel that I have successfully conveyed the

information to the new discourse community in the near genre.

Another difficult part of the translation is to select which part of the original primary text

to include and which part to leave out. Since different genres of articles have different length, a

news article should be shorter in length compared to my primary text. So I have to cut out some

parts of the primary text. The primary text includes many charts as evidence supporting the

author’s claim. I had to cut these charts out since they would not be very interesting to read in a

news article. Also, there are detailed descriptions of some of the specific things being talked
about in the primary text. These also need to be cut out since the news article can not be too

lengthy.

After finishing my translation, I think that I have improved on my ability to transition

from one genre to another. This writing project is a very good practice for me. Even though I

may not have done a good job this time, I am sure that I would do much better the next time I

encounter a similar writing assignment like this one. If I have the chance to redo this assignment,

I would not do things the same way again. Because I am much more familiar with the process of

translating my primary text into a new genre. I will approach this assignment in another way.
 Bibliography

Bickmore, Lisa. 2022. “Genre in the Wild: Understanding Genre within Rhetorical
(Eco)Systems”

Dirk, Kerry. 2010. “Navigating Genres”