COVID-19 is a virus that was identified in December 2019 by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission in Wuhan, Hubei Province. According to WHO, the cumulative of lives lost are currently 103 million people in the U.S. but took the lives of 777 million people worldwide.
In the prevention of the spread of COVID-19, state and local governments employed a lockdown closing schools and non-essential jobs. Millions of Americans lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Social media soon became the only way to communicate as it acted as an augmenter and influencer during and after the pandemic, reported via PubMed Central.
This allowed survivors who were experiencing mental stability issues, who also weren’t aware of their mental health, to learn from research. Others sought after professional help to find a solution for their mental illness.
To gain further insight into the challenges that communities face in response to covid & their mental health, we spoke with, Donovan Thorne, a 39-year-old man living in Richmond, Virginia. When asked about how impactful covid was to his mental health,
“I was physically ill in October 2019, due to covid. By that point I had realized an uptick on my anxiety. I did not go to the hospital until February 2020”, said Thorne.
A study done for impacts on pre-existing conditions, by Sheridan Luke, found that every four of five people described experiencing increased mental health difficulties following the start of COVID-19. That said, some drew comfort from feeling like everyone’s “in the same boat”. In an interview with Denzelle Larkin, a student at Allegheny County Community College for Psychology,
“My mental health before the pandemic was stable, for me. My peers were frantic, scared, … almost suicidal”, said Larkin
For those who are already self-aware of their diagnoses, the pandemic may have prepared them for the highs and lows COVID-19 brought. COVID-19’s affects still lingered for the economy which directly targeted the lives of minorities, like Larkin,
“After the pandemic, however, my mental health has been just one big disassociation blur”, said Larkin
In 2021, WHO published “The COVID-19 pandemic and mental health” video via their YouTube. Produced for World Mental Health, it further exposes the harsh realities people of all nationalities faced.
“I just fell into a pit, and I couldn’t get out of it”, Arsha shares in her testimonial.
This video is first-hand experience of how covid-19 raised awareness for mental health. Some were infected and survived yet, their mental state was challenging itself. Others weren’t infected but were affected by loved ones who were and unfortunately lost the battle. The weight this carries on those who survived is something that warrants attention and awareness.
