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• Discrepancies in Mental Health Impacts
  Adrienne L. Jarosinski
  Published on: 10 March 2022

• Published on: 10 March 2022

  Discrepancies in Mental Health Impacts

  • Adrienne L. Jarosinski, MPH Candidate George Washington University

  While the data that this article studied and the results that were produced show a change in the mental health status and medication behaviors of Portugal, it does not support the change in mental health status captured in much of the literature around the world. When the COVID-19 virus was declared a pandemic, there was global unrest. It is natural for people to feel fear, anxiety, and panic in the face of an unknown pandemic (Usher, Durkin, & Bhullar, 2020). The article addresses some of the discrepancies between the literature coming out that has been showing increases in anxiety and depressive symptoms in the Discussion section. However, these discrepancies do not align with the data presented in the paper. Further explanation and research is needed as to why rates of some prescription medications to manage mental health symptoms are declining when there is evidence showing that mental illnesses have increase as a result of the pandemic.
  The article discussed a reduction of prescriptions for anxiolytics, sedatives, and hypnotics in children, adolescents, and elderly women. These medications would address the symptoms of anxiety, stress, and other symptoms that a global pandemic may cause (Javed, Sarwer, Soto, & Mashwani, 2020). The authors suggested that perhaps people have been going to see the doctor less frequently due to quarantines and fear of contracting the virus. However, some of the medications are long-term, so it does not make sense that, duri...

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  While the data that this article studied and the results that were produced show a change in the mental health status and medication behaviors of Portugal, it does not support the change in mental health status captured in much of the literature around the world. When the COVID-19 virus was declared a pandemic, there was global unrest. It is natural for people to feel fear, anxiety, and panic in the face of an unknown pandemic (Usher, Durkin, & Bhullar, 2020). The article addresses some of the discrepancies between the literature coming out that has been showing increases in anxiety and depressive symptoms in the Discussion section. However, these discrepancies do not align with the data presented in the paper. Further explanation and research is needed as to why rates of some prescription medications to manage mental health symptoms are declining when there is evidence showing that mental illnesses have increase as a result of the pandemic.
  The article discussed a reduction of prescriptions for anxiolytics, sedatives, and hypnotics in children, adolescents, and elderly women. These medications would address the symptoms of anxiety, stress, and other symptoms that a global pandemic may cause (Javed, Sarwer, Soto, & Mashwani, 2020). The authors suggested that perhaps people have been going to see the doctor less frequently due to quarantines and fear of contracting the virus. However, some of the medications are long-term, so it does not make sense that, during a particularly stressful event, these medications would decrease. In addition, the authors noted that there was an increase in overall prescription trends throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in older adults and the elderly. This trend though shows that patients have continued to see their doctors and get prescribed medications for other ailments. This demonstrates that it is possible for patients to continue to receive necessary medications for mental illnesses, despite the hurdles of the pandemic.
  In addition to the anxiety and stress that the pandemic may cause, it can also increase rates of depression. During the pandemic, especially in the earlier stages of when doctors and researchers were trying to learn more about it, people spent time at home, away from others. This resulted in people feeling isolated and distanced from other people (Usher, Durkin, & Bhullar, 2020). The distancing from other is one of the issues that can cause an increase in depression. The study showed increasing rates of antidepressant prescriptions before the pandemic began, but then they started to decline, which contradicts the increasing depressive symptoms brought on by the pandemic (Gallagher et al., 2020). The authors saw a trend of a drop in antidepressant prescription rates in male and female children, male adolescents, adults, older adults, and the elderly. However, there was no impact on the rate of prescriptions for antidepressants in women during COVID-19. This is interesting because COVID-19 is not something that impacts one gender more than the other. Additional research would be warranted to explain the gap of prescription rates between genders during the pandemic.
  Many different factors can explain the conflicting data, including country studied, rate of medication use before COVID-19, etc. As more information continues to come out about COVID-19 and its impacts on mental health, we’ll more fully understand these discrepancies.

  References
  Gallagher, M. W., Zvolensky, M. J., Long, L. J., Rogers, A. H., & Garey, L. (2020). The impact of covid-19 experiences and associated stress on anxiety, depression, and functional impairment in American adults. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 44(6), 1043–1051. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-020-10143-y
  Javed, B., Sarwer, A., Soto, E. B., & Mashwani, Z. U. (2020). The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic's impact on mental health. The International journal of health planning and management, 35(5), 993–996. https://doi.org/10.1002/hpm.3008
  Usher, K., Durkin, J., & Bhullar, N. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and mental health impacts. International journal of mental health nursing, 29(3), 315–318. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12726

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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