COVID: IT'S EFFECT ON PEOPLE OF COLOR.
A burgeoning wave of mental health problems seems to have hit people of color in the United States of America, according to a report coming out of Health News Day.
The way people interact during the pandemic has changed in so many ways. Many persons are accustomed to meeting with family on a regular basis, going out to movies or even sporting events. The ubiquitous nature of the virus has curtailed these activities.
Vickie Mays, a professor of health policy and director of UCLA center on Research, Education, Training and Strategic Communication on Mental Health Disparities, opined that , "We're about to have a mental health epidemic because of COVID." Ms. Mays cites , an increase in mood disorders, substance abuse and suicides in minority communities driven in part by social isolation - a prerequisite to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
CEO of the East Baton Rouge Council , Tasha Clark- Amar says that Louisiana families are no longer able to come together to say their goodbyes to their love ones lost to the virus. This view is echoed by mental health specialist and director of the neurology clinic at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, Dr. Allison Navis. "A lot of patients who were sick in March or April (sic 2020) even if they had a milder infection, it was a very scary time here in the city," Navis said. "They might have been alone in their apartments and the hospitals being overwhelmed and hearing ambulances outside a so a lot of patients were really fearful understandably about whether they would survive this. That has absolutely affected them and caused depression or anxiety or PTSD."
The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more dealing with grief and loss during the pandemic.
Credit : WebMD