COVID-19: Has it Improved or Worsened Our Mental Health?

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a lot of changes to our world, both positive and negative, and it can be hard to determine whether one of these two has shone through as the favourable side in this shroud of uncertainty. And for that, the only way we can truly determine whether this pandemic has brought more good or bad to this world is by separating everything into subtopics. And so here, we will be focusing on the subtopic of how COVID-19 has affected our mental health, and there afterwards, which side has been more influential.

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There are many people in this world that don’t brush their teeth, skip their breakfasts, just to get to work on time, and this happening on a daily basis then turns into a bad habit, where there is so much anxiety on whether they will make it to work in time or not. This has been fixed or loosened through the new online system that we have been forced to adapt to, where our daily lives are happening again, through a screen. Being online saves workers time that they are on the road to get to their offices, therefore being able to do their daily morning routine with more ease, and have a good and healthy breakfast to get them ready for the day. This will reduce anxiety, which can cause countless problems for your body, with some heightening if you have caught the virus previously, making anxiety more dangerous. 

When COVID was only an outbreak in China that was viewed as something that will go away very soon, we did not care about what it could mean to us. Now if you think back to when the virus was starting to spread overseas and into other countries, we were all very worried about our well-being, and what the future would be like ahead of us. This is when thoughts started flooding us. What will happen if we catch the virus? How long will it last? What will happen to the business market? Many people have had these thoughts. In fact, in a study during January/February 2021, 84% of American adults have had signs of stress, whether it was sadness, anger, or anxiety. This is very troubling because a consequence of stress is depression, which many think drugs and alcohol are the solutions to solving their problems during their hard times, which then worsens your condition, and ultimately, death. 

Now looking at the pros compared to the cons, we can see that while the positive might reduce some anxiety that is considered “normal”, COVID-19 has had a much bigger impact on our lives through putting stress into us, because thoughts and worries about the virus is not a one-time thing, and is much scarier than making it to work 10 minutes late. It is always rushing into your brain, like a swarm of bees constantly at work, and the hours spent thinking about something that you cannot control can eat away at you, therefore making it very dangerous. From the evidence above, we can see that there are many more negative than positive things revolving around the development of this pandemic, and with this in mind, stay safe, and put your health as your first priority. The end.

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References:

“COVID-19 and Your Mental Health.” COVID-19 and Your Mental Health, 15 Oct. 2020, www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/mental-health-covid-19/art-20482731.


Bethune, Sophie. “APA: U.S. Adults Report Highest Stress Level Since Early Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic.” American Psychological Association, 2 Feb. 2021, www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2021/02/adults-stress-pandemic.