Detrimental Effects of COVID-19 Measures on Mental Health and Social-Economic Disparities

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has struck nations worldwide, pushing worldwide health and socioeconomic systems to extreme limits. Various factors, such as drastic alterations in public environments, prolonged quarantine, revenue loss, and anxiety of disease contraction, have caused mental turmoil. Although there was a need to cope with an excess of psychological strain among the public, post-COVID patients, and those with a previously diagnosed psychiatric condition, mental health programs faced a substantial decline in services, mirroring the dramatic rise in psychological issues. Interestingly, certain coping strategies play protective or deleterious effects on mental health outcomes. Moreover, social media exposure has played a double-edged role in the mental health of the public during the pandemic, leaving grounds for further debates. Protean cultural themes have taken center stage in the discussion on social resilience and compliance to COVID-19 measures, driving their impact through certain work ethics, social capital, and public attitudes in different societies. On the other hand, exceedingly rising poverty rates cemented the deleterious economic impact of the pandemic. Attention has been called to the racial implications of the pandemic, driving millions of individuals with low socioeconomic position (SEP) and belonging to minority groups out of the paid workforce. Interestingly, we turn attention to an array of elements implicated in this dramatic effect, such as public transport, living arrangements, and health insurance coverage among these vulnerable groups. We attempt to address the mechanisms COVID-19 channeled its mental health and socioeconomic impacts by explaining the risk factors and pave the way for stronger crisis management in the future by evaluating the socioeconomic and psychological effects in stark detail.