OPINION: Keeping Up With Your Mental Health During The COVID Pandemic

by Makhi Callins

                              

It has been a dark year for us all. COVID-19 has taken a toll on multiple things in our country.

Makhi Callins

The Coronavirus has impacted things like the employment rate, the economy, the homelessness rate and especially people’s mental health.

Mental health is an issue that often goes unaddressed. The spread of this pandemic has caused a huge rise in anxiety and depression in people all over the world.  More than 53 percent of Americans say their mental health has suffered because of this Pandemic, and prescriptions for antidepressants had a 16 percent spike after the initial outbreak. 

Alcohol sales, outside of bars and restaurants, have surged 24 percent. Which statistics show isn’t very surprising, considering alcohol is often involved in times of stress.

Not only is the fear of catching the virus causing stress, but the struggle of being isolated at home is affecting people as well. This proves that COVID-19 brings with it more than just a risk to physical health

A survey was done showing that the most common fears and concerns people were having were: getting the virus, not trusting the doctors and scientists, losing their jobs and wondering how long a vaccine will take.

With a rise of anxiety and fear, also comes a rise in suicides. People all around aren’t just dying rapidly from having the Coronavirus, but people are also dying from taking their own lives at an alarming rate.

There are so many factors involved in mental health. And a lot of the time when people talk about a person’s health, they forget to include everything above your shoulders.   

COVID-19 is even affecting kids’ education. Nearly every state has or had schools close down to keep the staff and students safe. This resulted in 30 million kids being thrown into a new way of learning, putting them and their parents or guardian in a stressful situation.

Data also shows that 67 percent of parents with children ages 5-17 are worried their child will fall behind socially and academically.

With a vaccine now being administered, a lot of us can get a little sigh of relief.

Once we can get the pandemic under control a lot of people’s worries and concerns will go away. Everyone will still have normal stresses and fears of life, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for a pandemic that everyone thought would never go away, is something positive we can anticipate.

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