The social underpinnings of mental distress in the time of COVID-19 - time for urgent action.
The social underpinnings of mental distress in the time of COVID-19 - time for urgent action.
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DOI：
10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16123.1
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发表时间：
2020-01-01
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Sheard, Sally
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Rose, Nikolas;Manning, Nick;Sheard, Sally
我们认为，关于 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行和封锁导致心理健康问题“海啸”的预测被夸大了；焦虑和悲伤的感觉完全是对困难环境的正常反应，而不是心理健康状况不佳的症状。有些人需要专门的心理健康支持，尤其是那些已经过着艰难生活的人；我们需要立即扭转多年来社区精神卫生服务资金不足的局面。然而，COVID-19 对最弱势群体，尤其是因社会和经济状况而面临风险的 BAME 人群造成的不成比例的影响是完全可以预见的。紧急重建过去十年中被剥夺的社会和经济支持是确保心理健康的最佳方法。政府必须向地方当局注入资金，以重建社区服务、同伴支持、互助以及当地社区和志愿部门组织。医疗保健组织必须解决种族主义和歧视问题，以确保真正平等地获得全民医疗保健。政府必须用全民基本收入等制度取代条件严格的福利制度。所有经济和社会政策都必须接受具有法律约束力的心理健康审计。这听起来可能昂贵得不切实际，但社会和经济成本，更不用说个人和社区痛苦的成本，虽然往往是看不见的，但却要大得多。
We argue that predictions of a 'tsunami' of mental health problems as a consequence of the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the lockdown are overstated; feelings of anxiety and sadness are entirely normal reactions to difficult circumstances, not symptoms of poor mental health. Some people will need specialised mental health support, especially those already leading tough lives; we need immediate reversal of years of underfunding of community mental health services. However, the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on the most disadvantaged, especially BAME people placed at risk by their social and economic conditions, were entirely predictable. Mental health is best ensured by urgently rebuilding the social and economic supports stripped away over the last decade. Governments must pump funds into local authorities to rebuild community services, peer support, mutual aid and local community and voluntary sector organisations. Health care organisations must tackle racism and discrimination to ensure genuine equal access to universal health care. Government must replace highly conditional benefit systems by something like a universal basic income. All economic and social policies must be subjected to a legally binding mental health audit.This may sound unfeasibly expensive, but the social and economic costs, not to mention the costs in personal and community suffering, though often invisible, are far greater.