Humans have over time witnessed many crises. Some were limited to a particular region such as the crisis in the state of Uttarakhand, India that resulted in loss of life and infrastructure, whereas others, less common types are the ones that affect the entire race of humans like the current crisis of COVID-19.
In the beginning, when this disease was detected in Wuhan and was yet to spread in other countries, it was thought of only as a medical crisis posing a threat to the physical health of people, but as the time progressed, coronavirus spread its wings to almost the entire world and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). As countries began to impose lockdown in an attempt to control the spread of this deadly virus, mental health professionals started to recognize its repercussions on the mental health of people. A number of factors were identified that might lead people to experience mental discomfort ranging from mild symptoms to the development of a severe disorder such as depression. Each sector has been affected in a different manner with students experiencing anxiety over their future course, employees worried about their job security and older people feeling lonely.

References

Agrawal, R., 2021. Has Covid-19 pandemic brought the need to revisit India’s education system?. [Blog] Available at: <https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/has-covid-19-pandemic-brought-the-need-to-revisit-india-s-education-system-1799129-2021-05-05> [Accessed 31 July 2021]

Banerjee, D. (2020). The impact of covid-19 pandemic on elderly mental health. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. https;//doi.org/10.1002/gps.5320

Boland, B., De Smet, A., Palter, R., &Sanghvi, A. (2020, June 8). Reimagining the office and work life after COVID-19.McKinsey & Company. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/reimagining-the-office-and-work-life-after-covid-19

Fogarty, P., Frantz, S., Hirschfeld, J., Keating, S., Lafont, E., Lufkin, B.,  Mishael, V., Ponnavolu, M., &Turits, M. (2020). Coronavirus: How the world of work may change forever. BBC: Worklife

Hindustan Times. (2020, May 04). Watch how this Delhi RWA is helping senior citizens amid lockdown. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YQBMIX3rnc

Jaarsveld, G. (2020). The Effects of COVID-19 Among the Elderly Population: A Case for Closing the Digital Divide. Front. Psychiatry. 11. 1211 https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.577427

Jiao W.Y., Wang L.N., Liu J., Fang S.F., Jiao F.Y., Pettoello-Mantovani M., Somekh E. (2020). Behavioral and emotional disorders in children during the COVID-19 epidemic. J. Pediatr., S0022-3476(20)30336-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2020.03.013

Lee EE, Depp C, Palmer BW, Glorioso D, Daly R, Liu J, Tu XM, Kim HC, Tarr P, Yamada Y, Jeste DV. (2019). High prevalence and adverse health effects of loneliness in community-dwelling adults across the life span. IntPsychogeriatr. 31(10):1447-1462. doi:10.1017/S1041610218002120

Lee J. (2020). Mental health effects of school closures during COVID-19. Lancet. Child Adolesc. Health, S2352-4642(20)30109-7. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30109-7

Liu J.J., Bao Y., Huang X., Shi J., Lu L. (2020). Mental health considerations for children quarantined because of COVID-19. Lancet. Child Adolesc. Health. 4(5):347–349. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(20)30096-1

Liu, Y. (2015). The longitudinal relationship between Chinese high school students’ academic stress and academic motivation. Learning and Individual Differences, 38, 123–126.

Liu, Y., Lu, Z. (2011). The Chinese high school student’s stress in the school and academic achievement. Educational Psychology, 31(1), 27–35.

Mahapatra, A., & Sharma, P. (2020). Education in times of COVID-19 pandemic: Academic stress and its psychosocial impact on children and adolescents in India. International Journal of Social Psychiatry,67(4). 397-399. 0020764020961801

Mukhtar, S. (2020). Psychological impact of COVID-19 on older adults. Curr Med Res Pract. 10(4). 201-202. doi:10.1016/j.cmrp.2020.07.016

Mukku, S &Sivakumar, P. (2020). Mental Health Care of Older Adults during Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic: Challenges and Way ahead in India. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine. 42. 10.1177/0253717620944824

Sahu, P. (2020). Closure of universities due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): impact on education and mental health of students and academic staff. Cureus, 12(4).

Singh, S., Roy, M. D., Sinha, C. P. T. M. K., Parveen, C. P. T. M. S., Sharma, C. P. T. G., & Joshi, C. P. T. G. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown on mental health of children and adolescents: A narrative review with recommendations. Psychiatry research, 113429

Suresh, A., 2021. Impact of Covid-19 on school education in India. [Blog] Available at: <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/theenchantedpen/impact-of-covid-19-on-school-education-in-india-32475/> [Accessed 29 July 2021]

Suryadevara, V., Adusumalli, C., Adusumilli, P. K., Chalasani, S. H., &Radhakrishnan, R. (2020). Mental health status among the south Indian pharmacy students during COVID-19 pandemic quarantine period: A cross-sectional study. medRxiv

Vahia, V, Jeste, V, and Reynolds, C.F. (2020). Older Adults and the Mental Health Effects of COVID-19. JAMA. 324(22). 2253-2254. doi:10.1001/jama.2020.21753

Zhai Y., Du X. (2020). Mental health care for international Chinese students affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet Psychiatry. 7(4). doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30089-4