Mental Health Services and Covid-19
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Mental Health Services and Covid-19
Covid-19 has drastically changed the lives of almost everyone across the globe. Whether it has been the loss of a loved one or wearing a mask to work, Covid's impact has been felt by many. This can be expected with a total death toll of over 5 million. But Covid not only has a physical effect on our bodies but a mental effect on our minds as well. This is not as focused on because of the paranoia of contracting the virus and not wanting to become ill from it. But this paranoia is a part of the mental impact Covid has had on people across the world and needs to be prioritized in the United States. Mental health is just as important as physical health, so it needs to be treated as such. This is seen in developing children, college students, and those who self-
isolate or have lost their employment because of Covid. With an increase in isolation and a decline in socialization, it is critical that better services and care are available to people who struggle with mental health. This can be done with the integration of community-based care and a value-based mental health care delivery system. First, the timeline of Covid in the United States should be reviewed. It all began with the first few cases of Covid-19 in December of 2019 in Wuhan, China. The virus eventually made its way to the United States in January, where the World Health Organization would declare Covid-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020. A few days later, President Donald Trump declared a nationwide emergency which shut down most of the country,
including schools, businesses, and restaurants. In the US, there was a total of over 19 million cases and over 300,000 deaths before a vaccine was made available in December of 2020 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). As of November of 2021, there are a total of
over 190 million people vaccinated in the US. Even with a vaccine and a recovering economy,
the problem of Covid’s mental impact on the country and the services available for treatment remains. The amount of resources and services for mental health care is not sufficient enough to provide treatment to all those who require it in the United States. It is a priority to seek treatment when you experience physical symptoms of Covid, but there is no attention given to the mental effects of being in isolation or trying to avoid the virus. This has been an issue since the beginning of the pandemic and is still a problem today. It impacts anyone worried about Covid and its effects on themselves or their families. These people are the ones who self-isolate and see
less social interaction as a result of following Covid guidelines. Due to the worry and stress about Covid, there is an increased chance of worsening mental health issues that were present pre-Covid, as well as developing new issues with difficulty sleeping and eating or increased alcohol and substance use. With this negative impact on the mental health of many, the proper services must be available for these people to be treated.
The need for increased prioritization of mental health care can be seen in groups like developing children and college students, where mental health is necessary for the development of the person and could seriously impact the overall health of the individual. Developing children
are at the stage in their lives where social interaction is required. If a child is forced to be separated from their caregivers because of a Covid quarantine or even a loss of a loved one, the child might be more susceptible to mental health issues. A child needs companionship and social interaction in order to properly develop mentally. If a child is placed in isolation and cannot see their friends or family during a crucial time in the child’s development, there is an increased risk of the child developing a psychiatric disorder (Liu et al, 2020). It can also lead to issues with the attachment process if the child is only a few years old because this is the time when they develop
a relationship with their parents. This shows an area of mental health care that must be improved,
as not all children will be able to receive psychiatric care because of limited resources being available.
Another group whose mental health has been affected by Covid is college students. Mental health is already a topic of concern with these students, with all the stress they are under from schooling and the increase in responsibilities that come with this time in their lives. A survey has found the majority of college students experiencing increased stress and anxiety because of Covid-19. Many of the students are having a hard time concentrating and sleeping, as well as having fear of their health and the health of their loved ones (Son et al, 2020). An overall negative impact on the mental health of college students has been a result of the pandemic and there is a need to focus on this population with preventive strategies and interventions to ensure they receive mental health care.
A lack of treatment can worsen the mental state of those who are
in need.
As in any difficult time, there is a tremendous amount of stress that has placed a mental strain on people who are trying to perform everyday activities all while trying to avoid Covid-19.
This paranoia might be too much for some, which might result in self-isolation. Although this is recommended to limit the number of new cases of Covid, the World Health Organization expects
this to be met with an increase in depression, anxiety, self-harm, as well as other psychological disorders.
The pandemic has made it difficult for many businesses to stay open, forcing them to either temporarily or permanently shut down. In the United States along, there has been a loss in millions of jobs and an unemployment rate reaching 14.8%, per the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. This has forced many families to struggle, worsening any negative psychological effects that may have been present before (Kumar and Rajasekharan, 2021). This all shows that with the additional obstacles that Covid adds to the everyday struggles of life, mental health needs to be prioritized as something that requires more focus so the country can be ready to help those who require mental health care.
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Those who oppose the idea of prioritizing mental health care might believe that there are enough services in place now to help those in need of mental health care. With spending on mental health treatment spending reaching $225 billion in 2019, it might appear as though there is no need to put any more money towards mental health care. Even with this amount of spending, there is still a lack of access to mental health care for those in need. Of the 60 million people in the United States who live with a mental illness, almost half do not receive treatment (Alegría et al, 2018)
. Those who do look for treatment must deal with long wait times and schedule appointments for a few months in the future when they need care as soon as possible. This further increases the difficulty of accessing mental health care for those who need it most. In a comprehensive study of access to mental health care in 2019, 42% of the population find the
cost of health care and poor coverage from insurance companies limiting their access to these services (Johnson et al, 2021). Nearly 6 in 10 Americans are in need of or seeking mental health services, so it is clear that the amount of money spent on mental health care is not enough to give
access to everyone. There are two methods that can provide the most efficient care, even with limited resources. The first method is value-based care, which connects the cost of mental health care with incentives for health care providers. It works by rewarding health care workers for efficient and effective treatment, thus making it so a patient would receive the best care while the workers
would be compensated for their work. This care revolves around patient outcomes and how well care is provided (LaPointe, 2020). With health care workers being worked to the bone because of
the pandemic, this method would make it so there would be an extra push for the workers to give
the best care that they can. The second method is community-based health care. This kind of care
involves different programs and services that would address issues being felt in a specific community. This requires a community effort, which would also help to bring a community
together after the pandemic. Community-based health care would avoid the long waits to get treatment by bringing the treatment to those who need it. It would be delivered by agencies or hospitals and would target those who are most vulnerable or mentally ill. Both of these options would not only require less funds than the traditional hospital care, but would also increase the amount of services and increase the availability of treatment for those who need it.
These methods cannot be added at the drop of a hat, they need to be implemented over time with training of health care workers and lots of trial and error. A course of action that can be
taken would be to start by adding extensive mental health care to the training of health care workers. This would help them to identify behavioral red flags and identify the issues that affect individuals to provide the best treatment for them. Next would be finding areas where there is a low availability for mental health resources. These would be the areas to target first, as they are the most vulnerable to worsening mental health conditions. Adding the community-based health care would be the next step so the resources that are not available in these areas would be accessible to the community. Adding the value-based care method would be the final step so the health care workers would ensure of efficent and effective care being provided to the patients. With this framework for adding the methods of mental health care, the amount of mental health services available to those in need would increase over time.
Mental health is an important aspect of the overall health of an individual. It is especially important for groups where a stable mental health is necessary, like in developing children, college students, or those who self-isolate or have lost their employment because of Covid. If treatment is not available, then it can have a significant impact on these peoples' lives. Even with
the amount of money spent on mental treatment already, it is not enough to give access to everyone who needs it. If community-based care and a value-based mental health care delivery
system are put in place in areas that lack resources, there will be an increase in care and increase the rate of treatment for people across the country who struggle with mental health. Works Cited
Alegría, Margarita, et al. “Increasing Equity in Access to Mental Health Care: A Critical First Step in Improving Service Quality.” World Psychiatry
, vol. 17, no. 1, 19 Jan. 2018, pp. 43–44., https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20486.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.“CDC Museum Covid-19 Timeline.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4 Aug. 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/museum/timeline/covid19.html. Johnson, S., Dalton-Locke, C., Vera San Juan, N. et al.
“Impact on mental health care and on mental health service users of the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed methods survey of UK mental health care staff.” Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol
56, 25–37 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01927-4
Kumar, Anant, and K. Rajasekharan Nayar. “Covid 19 and Its Mental Health Consequences.” Journal of Mental Health
, vol. 30, no. 1, 27 Apr. 2020, pp. 1–2., https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2020.1757052.
LaPointe, Jaqueline. “The Importance of Mental Health Services.” PhysicianOne Urgent Care
, vol. 5, no. 3, 25 Feb. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1018/212792.
Liu, Jia, et al. “Mental Health Considerations for Children Quarantined Because of Covid-19.” The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health
, vol. 4, no. 5, 27 Mar. 2020, pp. 347–349., https://doi.org/10.1016/s2352-4642(20)30096-1.
Son, Changwon, et al. “Effects of COVID-19 on College Students’ Mental Health in the United States: Interview Survey Study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research
, vol. 22, no. 9, 3 Mar. 2020, https://doi.org/10.2196/21279.
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