The Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019: a psychological perspective

By Daniele Luzzo

The 2019 pandemic has been not only a biological pandemic but also a psychological–cultural pandemic. This study evaluates the impact of mental health on the general population, stakeholders, and how the psychological factors have important consequences in creating public health rules.

To prevent unconscious cognitive biases or to anticipate reactions from the community, we found that catering to cognitive elements is essential in the creation of public health procedures. Following our assessment, the expert in the mental health fields and in the social sciences should be included in the committee and decision-making group, both at the national and local levels.

We used literature created before the pandemic and research developed during the outbreak. Additionally, we completed this review with an analysis of individual interviews and observations from welfare policies and managerial practices during the epidemic.

This book aims to be a valuable tool for public health managers and Leaders in addressing a national health crisis. Experts in the psychosocial field can find in this document an exciting analysis of the correlation between cognitive biases and populations behaviours during an emergency. Finally, the public would have some ideas on risks and possible long-term psychological consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, with suggestions on well-being protective elements for protecting their mental health fitness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781667828794

Book preview

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© 2022 Daniele Luzzo

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Print ISBN: 978-1-66782-878-7

eBook ISBN: 978-1-66782-879-4

La psicologia è come il capitalismo e la democrazia. Non è che funzionino, è che non abbiamo nulla di meglio.

Psychology is like capitalism and democracy. It does not work accurately, but we have nothing better.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

chapter one – LITERATURE REVIEW I

chapter two – LITERATURE REVIEW II

chapter three – METHODOLOGY

chapter four – FINDINGS/ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION

4.1 findings

4.2 analysis

4.3 discussion

CONCLUDING REMARKS

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Appendix

sources

stressors

consequences

protective factors

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of mental health on the general population and stakeholders, and how the psychological factors have important consequences in creating public health rules. We used literature created before the pandemic and research developed during the outbreak. Additionally, we completed this review with an analysis of individual interviews and observations from welfare policies and managerial practices during the epidemic.

The 2019 pandemic has been not only a biological pandemic but also a psychological–cultural pandemic.

We found that cognitive elements are essential in the creation of public health procedures (to prevent unconscious cognitive biases or to anticipate reactions from the community). Following our assessment, the expert in the mental health fields and/or in social science should be included in the committee and decision-making group, both at the national and local levels.

Note: This work was prepared in the period March 2020–February 2021. All facts and figures refer to that timeframe.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my gratitude to the University Uninettuno and especially to Prof Kyriakos Kouveliotis for allowing me the possibility to increase my knowledge and for offering their support during my studies and my research project.

A special thanks also to Moussa Ba, Chief of CISMU, for his stimulus to improve my career through continuous education; to Dr Christophe Bernard, Medical Chief OECD, for the economic support of this project; to Arthur Minsat for his friendship and knowledge; and finally, to Francesco Orabona for the suggested technique.

My heartfelt gratitude to Mike Knudsen, as without his support and friendship, this work would not have been possible.

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations.

INTRODUCTION

The 2020 pandemic has been not only a biological pandemic but also a psychological–cultural pandemic. Psychological, sociological and anthropological factors played a significant role in the virus’s circulation.

What are the mental aspects in action during the COVID-19 outbreak and how could these components have influenced the diffusion of the infection and the public health decisions in the present and in the future?

The new coronavirus disease (SARS-CoV-2), widely known as COVID-19, was initially reported in Wuhan, China (Li et al., 2020). By September 29, 2020, it had infected 33.384 million people worldwide, killing more than 1 million individuals (source Johns Hopkins online database). The highly contagious virus (Paules, Marston and Fauci, 2020) forced a historic lockdown, in which a third of the world’s population was confined at home, an unprecedented public-health tool enacted to weaken the outbreak diffusion and to let the medical and social systems adapt in confronting this contemporary challenge.

It was the first time in history that such a large part of humanity was enforced to reduce mobility that was not related to a state of war or civil unrest.

Although different nations adopted shorter or longer lockdowns, every community had to enforce movement restrictions through public repression (payment of fine or police control) because there was a general lack of will to follow these emergency public-health measures (despite evidence that these governmental decisions helped to slow down the virus diffusion) (Bonardi et al., 2020).

The psychological burden placed on the population might be huge, not to mention the resulting direct economic complications that also denote psychological stress, such as people’s fear of being let go from their jobs’ (Kim and Zhao, 2020).

Brooks (Brooks et al., 2020) reported an array of stressors during previous quarantine (Ebola, H1N1, SARS, Equine influence, Middle East respiratory syndrome). Across ten countries, stressors that affected the psychic well-being were noticed. Therefore, we will analyse these factors and their potential effects on the cognitive functions, the emotional spectrum, the physical consequences for the organism and the behavioural changes. These stressors increase the risk for psychiatric disorders, thereby decreasing mental health fitness.

In consideration of the above-mentioned elements, the United Nations raises awareness of the impending mental health crisis that could originate from the COVID-19 pandemic (United Nations, 2020).

Our work aims to understand the psychological implications on population and leaders, in correlation with the ongoing outbreak. We oriented our work in both the area of predictive psychology and reactive psychology. Predictive psychology refers to that set of knowledge that could describe future human behaviour (both individually and socially), basing the probabilistic analysis on evidence-based research of past actions in a similar situation. Reactive psychology refers to the support that could be needed when an adverse psychological event occurs (i.e., traumatic events).

Consequently, we