Covid-19diseasewillcauseaglobalcatastropheintermsofmentalhealth:Ahypothesis

Abstract

A situation, like the present one, associated with the spread of in-fectious disease, results in intense mental stress[1]. Studies confirmthat individuals who have experienced[2], or not[3], COVID-19emergencies have mental disorders such as stress, anxiety, and de-pression.Therearealsopsychologicaldisordersofoccupationalorigin,such as those found in members of medical teams working in contactwithinfectedpatients[4].Ingeneral,thepopulationconfinedtotheirhomes appears with new emotional disorders (irritability, insomnia,fear,confusion,anger,frustration,boredom),whichpreviouslydidnotsufferfromthem,butnowevenpersistafterthequarantineislifted[5].Furthermore, recent studies report that the virus not only affects therespiratorysystem,itcouldalsobeaffectingthenervoussystemofin-fected people[6], which could cause the appearance of new psycho-logicaldiseases.So, a question arises: Will COVID-19 have a strong impact on themental health of humanity? our hypothesis is that in the short andmedium term, the entire world population, infected and uninfected,rich and poor, professionals and non-professionals, regardless of race,religion, gender, or age, undeniably all will suffer from a mental dis-order associated with COVID-19. Thus, in the coming years, govern-ments will not only have to deal with economic problems but alsoperhapswithabiggerproblem,thementalhealthoftheirpopulation.