The COVID-19 pandemic: risks to psychological well-being and mental health

Abstract

The problematic article is devoted to the issues of psychological well-being and mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sociopsychological effects of pandemics that potentiate mental health disorders have been analyzed. The effect of the influence of the media and social networks on the mental state is considered. Quarantine, social distance and social exclusion have a negative impact on mental health and physical well-being. The growth of deviant forms of behavior, stigmatization, excessive mental stress on medical workers who are in the focus of a pandemic, and the non-standard state of medical institutions have been noted among the main factors that worsen mental health. The peculiarities of anxious and phobic disorders in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic have been described and analyzed in detail. It has been established that organic anxiety predominates in patients with COVID-19, having a number of clinical peculiarities (the predominance of somatic anxiety with an asthenic radical, high comorbidity with depression and hypochondria, cognitive deficit and the severity of vegetative manifestations). Pharmacogenic anxious and depressive effects have been described with the use of antiviral agents. The peculiarities of the treatment of patients with anxious and phobic disorders in the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic are the use of Internet technologies (psychoeducation, psychotherapy) and the discussion of specific problems and fears at psychotherapy sessions. Timely diagnosis, therapy and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders that occur during an outbreak of infectious diseases is a priority for successfully overcoming both the immediate and longterm effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the mental health of all segments of the population. Keywords: COVID-19, pandemic, risk, psychological well-being, mental health, anxiety, phobias