ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim: To explore the students' mental health in general and their anxiety in particular on remote learning during COVID-19 pandemic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The study is based on the material of 112 respondents (85 females and 27 males), interviewed using The Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale-21 (DASS-21) and SAN - the test for emotional state. RESULTS: Results: There are statistically significant differences between the samples of 1st and 2nd year students in terms of "depression" and "stress". The latter are more typical for second-year students. The article argues that, given the COVID-19 pandemic situation and the disruption of normal face-to-face learning, the true causes that determine the indicated trends deserve more extensive and comprehensive research. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: It has been identified that the situation as a whole significantly affected the students' mental health in general and their anxiety level in particular.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Anxiety/epidemiology , COVID-19/epidemiology , Female , Humans , Male , Pandemics , Stress, Psychological , Students/psychologyABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: The aim: The paper aims at reviewing the recent studies on the impact of the Eastern mind-body practices on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Materials and methods: The recent studies (2020 - 2021) on the Eastern mind-body practices in combating the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic were identified in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar. Research papers were found by using the keywords "mental health", "psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic", "Eastern mind-body practices", "meditation", "mindfulness", "yoga", "tai chi", "qigong". A total of 27 selected publications were analyzed based on our criteria. Given the relatively small number of relevant articles in recent years, we also examined papers published before 2020. Along with the aforementioned, the authors used integrative anthropological approach and interpretive research paradigm. CONCLUSION: Conclusions: The Eastern mind-body practices are becoming increasingly popular, especially now when the outbreak of COVID-19 has created mental health concerns among the general population worldwide. They may prove an effective preventive or therapeutical intervention for mental health issues during and after the pandemic. However, the underlying mechanisms of these techniques are still insufficiently studied. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a well-planned study and interpret it from multiply perspectives involving an interdisciplinary team of specialists.
