Psychological challenges of people in Quarantine during COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study

Abstract

Introduction: Following the outbreak of COVID-19, people started to exercise quarantine. With all the psychological, economic, and social implications of the quarantine at home, an interesting topic has been the differences in the way different individuals have encountered these implications. Methods: In the study, a psychodynamic approach was followed to investigate this topic using a qualitative methodology based on the content analysis. The data was collected through a total of 10 semi-structured interviews with individuals who have exercised a 3-month quarantine. Samples were taken via purposive sampling in Tehran, with the sampling process started in 2020 and continued until data saturation was achieved. Simultaneously with data collection, data analysis was performed via qualitative content analysis. Results: Based on the analysis results, five principal classes were extracted, which represented the experiences and feelings about and the type of encountering the then-new conditions. These included the fear and anxiety, different approaches to the outbreak of the disease, improvement of the health level, taking attitude toward the patients, and growth under pressure. Conclusion: Considering the emergence of negative psychological feelings, the research tends to provide psychologists and other practitioners in the field of the psychology with valuable information that can be used for prevention and treatment purposes.