Citation

Herrman H, Kieling C. Med. J. Aust. 2021; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Australian Medical Association, Publisher Australasian Medical Publishing)

DOI

10.5694/mja2.51080

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The short and longer term adverse effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic and its economic consequences on the mental health of individuals and communities are under intense scrutiny. Governments and scientists are anxious about the adequacy of mental health services and the possibility of increased suicide rates.

Well designed longitudinal studies are needed to guide decisions about policies and actions to prevent and ameliorate mental health problems and to support population resilience. Such studies, however, are rare. One year into the pandemic, two systematic reviews and meta‐analyses of longitudinal studies initiated or active early in 2020 have been published.5, 6 They suggest that people around the world have generally been resilient to the initial effects of lockdowns, or describe small population increases in mental health symptoms that declined to pre‐pandemic levels by mid‐2020.6 These findings are in line with previous reports on disasters, including Australian bushfires; most people exhibit acute responses to an unexpected adversity, but then adapt to the situation. The marked study heterogeneity in both analyses might be explained by sampling differences, but it is possible that specific subgroups were affected differently by the pandemic, as also reported for earlier disasters...

Language: en

Keywords

Suicide; Violence; Disasters; Longitudinal studies; COVID-19; Anxiety disorders; Depressive disorders; Mental disorders; Mental health policy