Is everyone invited to the discussion table? A bibliometric analysis COVID-19-related mental health literature.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has captured the mental health discussion worldwide. Examining countries' representation in this discussion could prove instrumental in identifying potential gaps in terms of ensuring a truly global conversation in times of global crisis. Methods: We collected mental health and COVID-19-related journal articles published in PubMed in 2020. We focused on the corresponding authors' countries of affiliation to explore countries' representation. We also examined these articles' academic impact and correlations with their corresponding authors' countries of affiliation. Additional journals and countries' indicators were collected from the Web of Science and World Bank websites, respectively. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics and the VOSviewer software. Results: In total, 3492 publications were analyzed. Based on the corresponding author, high-income countries produced 61.9% of these publications. Corresponding authors from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East combined accounted for 11.8% of the publications. Europe hosted corresponding authors with the most publications and citations, and corresponding authors from North America had the largest mean journal impact factor. Conclusions: The global scientific discussion during the COVID-19 pandemic saw an increased contribution of academics from developing countries. However, authors from high-income countries have continued to shape this discussion. It is imperative to ensure the active participation of low- and middle-income countries in setting up the global mental health research agenda, particularly in situations of global crisis, such as the ongoing pandemic.

The grief experience during the COVID-19 pandemic across different cultures.

Grief is the physical or mental suffering experienced after a major loss, usually the death of a loved one. It is a universal experience, but sociocultural factors, such as cultural or ethnic identity and religious beliefs predict and shape the expression of grief. The circumstances under which people are experiencing grief during the coronavirus outbreak have adversely affected the grieving process. Unexpected deaths, social distancing rules and visitor restrictions in healthcare facilities have posed a heavier burden on the loss and have heightened the risk of grievers experiencing complicated or persistent grief. This concern led us, as early career psychiatrists (ECPs) from 14 different countries connected by the Early Career Psychiatrists Section of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), to share our country-specific experiences on the mourning, grief tradition, and burial rites during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, we discuss our experiences, similarities and differences with relation to the: 'Effect of the pandemic on mourning', 'Restrictions and Guideline on burial rites due to the pandemic', 'Effect of the pandemic on social support' and 'Role of media and telecommunication on mourning practices and burial rites'. We conclude that while telecommunication means have attempted to bridge the gap and provide some form of social connectedness, the total and global effect of the pandemic is yet to be fully seen and understood.

The Rising Scourge of Mental Illness and Infodemic: An Outcome of Social Media and COVID-19.

COVID-19 was accompanied with the increasing broadcast of fake news, misinformation and excessive information via social media platforms. This phenomenon has been termed "infodemic", to describe an overwhelming amount of mostly fake, false or inaccurate information which spreads rapidly and impacts negatively on achieving a solution. It would therefore be desirable to use a cautious approach which utilizes culturally sensitive and country specific measures to deal with this occurrence. We aim to raise awareness, likewise draw the attention of global scientific community on this topic of public and mental health concern and it calls for further comments on this issue.

Depression and anxiety among Pakistani healthcare workers amid COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

Objectives: The sudden COVID-19 crisis required a determined effort on the part of the healthcare workers (HCWs) and excessive workload increased the risk of depressive and anxious symptoms in frontliners. The aim of the study was to assess anxiety and depression levels among HCWs during times of pandemic and its potential aggravating factors. Materials and methods: A web-based survey was conducted to assess the mental health outcomes of healthcare workers and related factors during the COVID-19 pandemic. For assessing depression and anxiety, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) comprised of 14 items with seven items for depression and seven for anxiety were used. Results: Of all 436 participants, 158 (36.2%) showed noticeable symptoms of depression and 220 (50.4%) showed substantial anxiety symptoms. The majority of them were females. It has been observed in the study that female gender, young, and unmarried marital status are associated with higher scores. HCWs working in urban regions show more depressive symptoms. Mild depression and anxiety ratio are very common among participants (21.3%). Factors found to be associated with higher anxiety and depression are the increased number of deceased patients with lower family support. Conclusions: Altogether, the present study findings present concerns about the psychological well-being of all HCWs during the acute COVID-19 outbreak. Therefore, steps should be taken to protect them from mental exhaustion, so they may fight with more zeal against the infectious pandemic that has caused significant impacts worldwide.

Associations of lockdown stringency and duration with Google searches for mental health terms during the COVID-19 pandemic: A nine-country study.

OBJECTIVES: We examined the associations of lockdown stringency and duration with Google searches for four mental health concepts (i.e., "Anxiety," "Depression," "Suicide," "Mental Health") in nine countries (i.e., Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Paraguay, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey) during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We retrieved national-level data for each country from Google Trends and the Global Panel Database of Pandemic Policies. In our primary analysis, we used data from all countries to estimate a set of multilevel regression models examining associations of overall lockdown stringency and lockdown duration with relative search volumes for each mental health term. We repeated the models after replacing overall lockdown stringency with each of the lockdown stringency components. RESULTS: A negative association was found between overall lockdown stringency and "Depression." Lockdown duration and the most stringent stay-at-home requirements were negatively associated with "Anxiety." Policies that recommended or required the cancelation of public events evidenced negative associations with "Depression," whereas associations between policies that required some or all levels of schooling to close and "Depression" were positive. Policies that recommended or required workplaces to close and those that enforced quarantines on non-citizens arriving from high-risk regions or closed borders entirely were negatively associated with "Suicide." CONCLUSIONS: Lockdown duration and some lockdown policies during the COVID-19 pandemic were generally associated with significantly lower, rather than higher, Google searches for selected mental health terms. These findings could be used alongside other evidence to develop future lockdown strategies that are sensitive to mental health issues during public health crises.

24-hour mobile phone helpline service for women discharged from mother-baby psychiatry unit (MBU): Is it enough?: Journal of Psychiatry and Neurological Sciences

Mobile phone interventions have proven to be useful in developing countries in various contexts, such as crisis intervention, medication issues, and reporting domestic violence, and this trend gained further momentum with the onset of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (2). Many developing countries centralized triage dedicated to domains such as domestic violence, mental health crisis, physical health issues, and child abuse. [...]it would be of great value if the same team or other labs pointed out the importance of the need in a more comprehensive form in terms of geographic and cultural context in the near future with further research.

The Mental Health of Caregivers and Their Patients With Dementia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a worldwide public health concern. It continues to spread rapidly throughout the world causing multiple physical and psychological consequences in the population. Especially, people affected by severe psychiatric or neurological diseases are highly susceptible to serious health complications not only due to the direct effect of the infection but also to the indirect effect of COVID-19 following social distancing during lockdowns and its general social consequences. Indeed, lockdown and difficulties in using the care services produced psychological consequences in caregivers such as depression, anxiety, and worsening of the quality of life which in turn affected the ability to manage patients. Our aim was to systematically review the psychological consequences of the COVID-19 lockdown in caregivers of patients with cognitive impairment and dementia and the impact on the health of their patients. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted by searching in MEDLINE/PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science by two independent researchers following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement guidelines. Data extraction and quality assessment were also performed. Papers were screened for eligibility by and then those which met inclusion criteria were included in this review. Results: The initial search returned 410 records. After the screening and the inclusion/exclusion criteria were applied, 315 were excluded because they were irrelevant, 30 because they were reviews, meta-analyses, letters to editors, editorials, guidelines, or case reports, and 10 because they were duplicates. Then, 38 out of 55 s/full-text articles were excluded because they did not simultaneously assess mental health of patients and caregivers. In the end, 17 papers were deemed eligible and included in the present review. Conclusion: Based on current literature, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown caused severe psychological consequences for caregivers of patients with dementia, worsening their mental health, and increasing the psychological and physical burden, independently from the severity of the disease of their relatives, which resulted also independently globally worsened.

Mental health situation in Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic

November 2019 marked the eruption of a novel virus in the city of Wuhan (China) which was named as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to rapid airborne transmission, the virus has now spread across 213 countries, infecting millions of people with a mortality rate of 3.15% worldwide. Initially the major topic of concern was the mortality risk and the clinical outcomes of the disease, however the pandemic has now resulted into global mental health crisis, largely because the only solution currently available against the novel coronavirus is the social distancing and isolation of suspect cases. As COVID-19 has led to an uncertain future, the mental health of Pakistanis is at stake. Therefore, it is essential for the government and health institutions to start mental health initiatives. Mental health services should be made more accessible to the general public while the taboos regarding mental health, and the new stigma against COVID-19 patients and their relatives, should be destigmatized. The government should invest in expanding free health care centers and providing ration bags to relieve the financial burden on the public. On the other hand, healthcare professionals and students should be provided with screening and mental health counselling by their respective institutions as well as security and adequate PPE. Lastly, it is also essential to ensure that the media and news provide authentic information to avoid situations of panic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved)

Role of Social Media in Psychiatry During Pandemic: A Potential Risk for Suicidal Ideation.

ABSTRACT: The COVID-19 pandemic brought with itself significant mental health challenges owing not only to the morbidity and mortality from the infection but also to mitigation strategies of social distancing and self-isolation. Indeed, in the absence of adequate pharmaceutical aids, quarantine and social distancing measures are taken to limit the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, living in the world of social media, the average usage of social media could be expected to show a sharp rise as measures of social distancing and quarantine are adopted to contain the pandemic. In this context, social media could be thought of as an additional preventative resource aiding the containment of the pandemic by being a key network for communication during a crisis.Because social media usage cannot be brought down to null considering the fact that it does have some positive aspects to it in terms of disposition of useful information, we could alternatively modify the reporting to be more responsible.In conclusion, we could hypothesize that social media might surge responses for some adverse mental health conditions, increasing fear, anxiety, and panic responses, even spreading suicidal ideation and therefore impacting incidence of suicide in some way. Moreover, social media should be carefully handled, particularly during the pandemic, as social media engagement spiked. Indeed, suicide news, when not reported adequately, and most dangerous social media challenges could have devastating effects among youngest users.

Scaling Up Global Mental Health Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond.

Every health care system requires an adequate health care workforce, service delivery, financial support, and information technology. During the COVID-19 pandemic, global health systems were ill prepared to address the rising prevalence of mental health problems, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), thereby increasing treatment gaps. To close these gaps globally, task shifting and telepsychiatry should be made available and maximized, particularly in LMICs. Task shifting to nonspecialist health workers to improve essential mental health coverage and encourage efficient use of the available resources and technology has become the most viable strategy.

Coronavirus outbreak from early career psychiatrists' viewpoint: What we have learned so far.

PURPOSE: Since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic several million cases and more than three million deaths have been already confirmed worldwide due to COVID-19. DESIGN AND METHODS: Early Career Psychiatrists from all over the world present an overview of what happened in their own countries and what they have learned so far by this experience in everyday clinical practice. PRACTICE IMPLICATION: We tried to take a real time picture of this unexpected situation, drawing useful hints for now and the future.