Abstract
Background: The negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health has been reported by media throughout the world, although this role is not well-understood in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC). We examined the reporting of mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and initiatives undertaken to support mental health reported from the viewpoint of media.Methods: We reviewed articles published in 10 local newspapers, including seven Bangla and three English newspapers, during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. News topics were identified through discussions among the team members, with searches across online newspapers and portals. Data extrapolated from newspapers were documented in an Excel spreadsheet. A mixed-method approach was used following a framework analysis for analyzing data. Recurring issues and commonly emerging topics were generated from the data. Descriptive statistics were applied for analyzing quantitative data.Results: Between March 2020 and March 2021, we have identified 201 reports on mental health issues including 45 reports (22.4%) focused on stress due to the associated financial crisis, unemployment and loneliness, 50 reports (24.9%) of 80 apparent suicides linked to family issues, disharmony in conjugal relationships, harassment, sexual violence, emotional breakdown, financial crisis, and stigma due to COVID-19.There were 77 reports (38.3%) concerning domestic violence during the pandemic. Twenty-nine reports (14.4%) referenced actions taken by different organizations to address mental health issues in response to the pandemic in Bangladesh.Conclusion: News coverage has the scope to highlight important issues that can emerge as a consequence of the COVID-pandemic, such as mental health, in a low resource setting. Capacity building of the media on the way to report mental health issues during emergency situations could be a useful strategy for more credible reporting on mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic for raising awareness of the public and policymakers about the negative consequences on mental health of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh. Adopting policies to support essential mental health care and promoting the local organizations to take timely public health measures will be imperative for averting the negative consequences of mental health due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.
Highlights
Mental illness is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease accounting for ∼32.4% of years lived with disability and 13% of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYS) [1]
The highest number of news items were reported in April of 2020 at the time of the peak of the first year of COVID-19 and a higher number of news items was reported in March 2021 in the second year of COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh [33]
We have collated these news reports in an Excel spreadsheet and sorted them out in to four news coverage themes based on the reports on different patterns of mental health issues during COVID-19, including mental stress and suicide
Summary
Mental illness is a major contributor to the overall global burden of disease accounting for ∼32.4% of years lived with disability and 13% of disability-adjusted life-years (DALYS) [1]. The issue is of growing significance in emerging economies such as Bangladesh where estimates of the prevalence of Common Mental Health Disorders, such as depression, are ∼7% for adults over 20 years, 1% for children 10–14 years and 3% for the adolescents 15–19 years of age [2]. Promoting good population mental health is critical to the development and sustainment of human and economic capital in any country [3]. Poor mental health is associated with adverse social and economic outcomes, as well as poor physical health across the life course [4]. The negative impact of COVID-19 on mental health has been reported by media throughout the world, this role is not well-understood in low-and middleincome countries (LMIC). We examined the reporting of mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh and initiatives undertaken to support mental health reported from the viewpoint of media
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