The COVID-19 pandemic that has affected several countries did not only cause many fatalities worldwide. The outbreak also caused various mental health issues, especially among women.
Various studies abound associating COVID-19 with several mental health symptoms that may affect some brain functions.
To cope with the challenges of the pandemic, some people have considered meditation and relaxation activities as a way to manage stress and anxiety, and other psychiatric symptoms.
Others have turned to entertainment through various media like television, music, online entertainment like sports betting, and video games.
However, the impact of COVID-19 on mental health, especially in women, is not a small matter that one can quickly resolve. Various entities have to work together to improve mental health, especially during the pandemic.
To date, the COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe outbreak to occur since 1918, when H1N1 influenza, known as the Spanish flu, broke out.
According to a 2020 review, men have a higher death ratio than women. The reasons for this mainly were attributed to pre-existing metabolic or cardiovascular diseases among men.
On the other hand, women are perceived to be more health-conscious, following hygienic practices, like handwashing, contributing to lower infection risks.
However, the same study also mentioned that women are more profoundly affected by the pandemic, especially at home and in the workplace.
Rather than getting reduced, women’s workloads seemed to have increased due to lockdowns and quarantine protocols.
This situation may partly be associated with increased healthcare workloads, primarily when most frontline health workers comprise women.
Some of these frontline staff include nurses, community health workers, and midwives. Additionally, women comprise most jobs connected to the healthcare industry, like catering, cleaning, and laundry.
Overall, the COVID-19 outbreak is not only a health issue. The pandemic also exposes deficiencies in the social, political, and economic systems that affect women’s health, resources, and needs.
COVID-19 was shown to cause higher levels of depression and anxiety among pregnant women.
In one study, pregnant women during COVID-19 reported more distress and psychiatric symptoms than those assessed before the pandemic.
Prenatal distress is known to cause harmful effects on both mother and child. Furthermore, the observed upsurge of symptoms among pregnant women requires additional clinical observation.
Women may also be more susceptible to increased psychiatric symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Several studies mention that women experience higher post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), depression, loneliness, and anxiety.
A study conducted in China, one of the countries hit hardest by the pandemic, noted that women had higher post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).
These women showed elevated PTSS levels in several areas like re-experiencing, hyper-arousal, and negative alterations in cognition and mood.
The pandemic has caused high risks of mental health symptoms among health workers, especially women, who make up most of the healthcare workforce.
In a cross-sectional study conducted on Chinese health care workers caring for COVID-19 patients, many participants reported experiencing depression, anxiety, insomnia, and psychological distress.
The researchers also mentioned that being female, having an intermediate occupation, and working as a frontline health worker were risk factors for worse mental health outcomes amid the pandemic.
While several studies exist describing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on people, research focused on mental health issues during the pandemic is still limited.
However, existing studies acknowledge that the pandemic profoundly affects women’s mental health at home and in the frontline healthcare scenario.
Various entities like communities and governments must take this opportunity to create programs that focus on providing mental health care for everyone.
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