Abstract
Background: Data on the psychological consequences of social isolation imposed by the global public health threat of the COVID-19 pandemic are limited. Mentally healthy people and psychiatric patients react to stress in different ways. Goal: To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the general population and the population of psychiatric patients in Vojvodina. Material and Methods: The study is designed as a cross-sectional study. It was conducted during April, May and June 2020 at the end and immediately after the first wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Serbia on the territory of Novi Sad. Participants were divided into two groups - a clinical group of patients with mental disorders and a control group composed of the healthy volunteers. A self-assessment questionnaire was used to collect data on the presence of anxiety and symptoms of depression and behavioral disorders that indicate increased levels of stress - such as insomnia, sedative abuse. Results: Anxiety, fear, panic attacks (50%), depressive symptoms (42%), sleep problems (30%) and sedative abuse (25%) were the most commonly reported psychiatric symptoms. Healthy subjects did not show a statistically significant presence of any symptoms and signs associated with mental problems. Conclusion: The results support the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of psychiatric patients. It can be expected that the most pronounced effects of the pandemic on mental health in the general population will be visible in the future.
Highlights
Looking forward to 2020, few could have guessed that an unknown virus pandemic would occur and change all the established patterns by which the world has been functioning for decades
The results support the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of psychiatric patients
The study is designed as a cross-sectional study. It was conducted during May and June 2020 at the end and immediately after the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia on the territory of Novi Sad. 200 subjects participated in this study and they were divided into two groups - a clinical group of patients with mental disorders and a control group composed of the general population- students who had no previous mental disorders based on their medical record
Summary
Looking forward to 2020, few could have guessed that an unknown virus pandemic would occur and change all the established patterns by which the world has been functioning for decades. The introduction of various restrictive restrictions on movement, freedoms, behavior, new rules concerning each and every aspect of our lives, followed by daily intense, offensive media reports about the “Crown” - the number of newly infected, the number of dead, seriously ill, overcrowded hospitals, disturbing pictures of crowds of dead people that there are so many that no one buries them for days “because there is no place in cemeteries”, very quickly introduced this part of the world to the real state of the COVID-19 epidemic, and produced a state of collective psychological tension and reminded each individual, lulled into all the comforts of life in the developed part of the world to its own finality, which gave rise to fear primarily of disease and death. Goal: To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the general population and the population of psychiatric patients in Vojvodina
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