COVID-19 Epidemiological Situation as a Psychosocial Determinant of Trauma and Stress

Book excerpt: In addition to the infectious context, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many complications to social life. Fear, anxiety, misinformation, and loneliness associated with isolation, as well as uncertainty about the days ahead, have already caused psychological and emotional changes in many people. Many social groups, such as cancer patients, the elderly, schoolchildren, and people with disabilities, were particularly vulnerable to the psychosocial effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of current data, even the WHO suggests that the psychological context of the pandemic may have caused more psychological damage than World War II. Some researchers also infer the existence already of a post-pandemic stress syndrome, which is currently not an official medical diagnosis, but rather a subtype of PTSD that is being diagnosed. Also noted in the context of the pandemic is the breakdown of many social ties due to isolation, loneliness, the development of symptoms of depressive or anxiety disorders, and the transformation of social life. Thus, it seems reasonable to estimate the magnitude of phenomena of psychosocial importance, resulting from the impact of the epidemiological situation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary issue to be considered within the framework of the topic is the identification of psychosocial factors affecting the quality of mental and social health of various social groups, which are determined by the epidemiological situation associated with COVID-19. In this view, the determining variables will be personal feelings of stress, fear, anxiety, depression, discouragement, alienation, and loneliness, and in a global sense the reference of these phenomena to the comfort and quality of social life, with particular emphasis on interpersonal relationships. COVID-19, as mentioned above, continues to be an important social issue, and, although the situation related to it has recently softened and media reports becoming less frequent. It is inferred that we will only now see the full impact of the problems associated with the mental health crisis and the breakdown of interpersonal relationships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.