Citation

De Berardis D, Gianfelice G, Fornaro M, Vellante F, Ventriglio A, Marini G, Pettorruso M, Martinotti G, Fraticelli S, di Giannantonio M. Front. Psychiatry 2021; 12: e650671.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2021, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2021.650671

PMID

34248699

Abstract

Covid-19 has left the aftermath characterized by an increase of psychological distress due to several causes, such as social distancing, fear of contagion, less utilization of healthcare resources, and last but not least, the lockdown in several countries. The lockdown has negatively affected the psychological well-being and has favored the emergence or re-exacerbation of psychiatric disorders (1).

The "forced" lockdown has obliged families to live together under the same home and, often, in a restricted objective and personal spaces. The problem now is that, due to the lockdown measures, families are forced to live together 24/7 compared to the time they would spend all together before the pandemic. This has increased the possibility of conflicts, quarrels, and episodes of interpersonal violence. Moreover, one of the most critical issues of the lockdown has involved the cohabitation of families that were problematic and, particularly, couples with marriage problems and were also approaching a divorce or a separation before COVID-19 (2). Sadly, many females may have paid the higher price of this forced cohabitation in a global context that was, even before, highly alarming regarding the violence against women (VAW) and girls.

Moreover, the VAW was still a worldwide and community health problem even before the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was often neglected in this particular period (as it happened for mental health as well), and therefore our opinion paper aims to draw attention to it...

Language: en

Keywords

maltreatment; COVID-19; violence; women; psychiatric disorders