Mental Health problem during social crises: What we heave learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a social crisis that temporarily affected the entire world population.
Predictions of a massive damage to mental health have not been confirmed, but some vulnerable populations have been
disproportionately affected by the infection and the social measures thereby implemented. Many women's mental health
has deteriorated due to their higher exposure as most of the so-called “essential workers”, and to the larger burden of
responsibilities they had to shoulder. People at both extremes of the life cycle share common vulnerability factors and were
exposed to isolation and the unavailability of formal support networks in the face of closure of schools, health and
recreational services. Surprisingly, adolescents of both sexes have also suffered a severe emotional impact documented by
the rise in suicidal ideation and behaviors and explained by the distortion of a life phase in which complex interdependent
processes of neurobiological and psychosocial growth occur. Inequities derived from gender, age, origin and other factors
were multiplied in the pandemic resulting in clear disparities in mortality and in the prevalence of symptoms due to the
failure of stress-management abilities.