Dr. Campbell takes a look at the pandemic’s effect on society’s mental health

 

How we’re supporting mental health during COVID-19 https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-...

​ Sleep Physical activity Spending time in green spaces or with pets Smoking or vaping, drinking alcohol, and snacking Interacting in person or online with family and friends, and taking part in organised activities such as sports, social clubs or religious groups Feeling more alone Working and screen time Relaxation practices such as meditation or mindfulness Reading, watching or listening to the news Five tips to support your mental health during COVID-19 https://covid.joinzoe.com/post/covid-...

​ Be kind to yourself and others Altruism https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publi...

​ Belonging, perspective, contagion Cut yourself and others some slack Check your sources (but not too often) Facts, not emotions Keep in touch Take care of yourself Nutrition Stay active Quiet unwind time Green space Bring some structure to your day Some you time Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) https://patient.info/doctor/patient-h...

​ Answers Not at all, 0 Several days, 1 More than half the days, 2 Nearly every day, 3 The 9 questions Little interest or pleasure in doing things? Feeling down, depressed, or hopeless? Trouble falling or staying asleep, or sleeping too much? Feeling tired or having little energy? Poor appetite or overeating? Feeling bad about yourself - or that you are a failure or have let yourself or your family down? Trouble concentrating on things, such as reading the newspaper or watching television? Moving or speaking so slowly that other people could have noticed? Or the opposite - being so fidgety or restless that you have been moving around a lot more than usual? Thoughts that you would be better off dead, or of hurting yourself in some way? Score, 0 to 27 Validity has been assessed against an independent structured mental health professional (MHP) interview. PHQ-9 score ≥10 had a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 88% for major depression Generalised Anxiety Disorder Assessment (GAD-7) https://patient.info/doctor/generalis...

​ Over the last 2 weeks, how often have you been bothered by any of the following problems? The 7 questions Feeling nervous, anxious or on edge? Not being able to stop or control worrying? Worrying too much about different things? Trouble relaxing? Being so restless that it is hard to sit still? Becoming easily annoyed or irritable? Feeling afraid as if something awful might happen? Score, 0 to 21 5, mild anxiety 10, moderate anxiety 15, severe anxiety At a score of 10, GAD-7 has a sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of 82% Also useful in, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder