Karen Cassiday, a clinical psychologist and managing director of the Anxiety Treatment Centre of Greater Chicago and past president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, said the pandemic was detrimental to the overall mental health of people in the US. She advised anyone who needs it to seek help.
Historically, “the norm for any population is to show some impairment in mental health when a mass event occurs, such as famine or war”, she said. “After six months most people adapt, and the general population returns to its normal pre-event level of mental health.”
However, in the case of the pandemic, this did not occur. “The pandemic had several unique characteristics that lent themselves to triggering anxiety, depression. Anxiety disorders do not go away on their own. They can be readily treated.”
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 