Published Paper Details:

The emergence of Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) and the pandemic thereof has lead to major health and economic crisis in the world. The mortality and morbidity has also increased as the disease is spreading at a rapid pace. To curtail the spread of COVID-19 stringent public health measures have been implemented worldwide. These include complete lockdown, social distancing, ban on travel and quarantine of travelers and suspects. The increasing number of cases worldwide, public worry about becoming infected, threat of unknown outcome of the infection, many myths, misunderstanding and misinformation about the disease and non availability of specific treatment have increased or precipitated the mental health issues like anxiety, stress and depression among the general population. Further various efforts like social distancing and lockdowns to decrease the spread of the Coronavirus has its impact on health in general and mental health in particular. WHO has also stressed upon identifying the underlying drivers of fear, anxiety and stigma spread through social media which fuels misinformation. Major disasters are almost always accompanied by various mental health disorders besides domestic violence, and child abuse. Epidemics of infectious disease are also associated with psychological distress and symptoms of mental illness. The SARS epidemic of 2003 was also associated with increased mental health issues. The increasing mental health issues during the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported by many authors. These may include depression, anxiety, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and others. As is evident COVID-19 pandemic is going to substantially increase anxiety, stress and depression but the literature on the mental health consequences of it is sparse. Hence we conducted this study to review all the available observational studies on the mental health during COVID-19 in Kashmir so that various majors are taken to mitigate burden on it.