Response 1
I enjoyed reading your post! I agree that the pandemic caused increased stress for everyone, but the individual with mental illness caused worsening symptoms due to social isolation and the fear of the unknown. Many people struggled with the fact that jobs were forced to close due to not knowing how to handle the pandemic, whereas other companies closed due to a lack of business, leaving many unemployed. During the pandemic, thirty-five percent of the public developed psychological distress (Wu et al., 2020).
As mental health awareness and needs increased during the pandemic, there was an increased need for the advanced practitioner to feel the gap in providing care for these individuals. Increased use of telehealth was implemented, and Psychiatric mental health providers embraced this way of treating as it was the best way of providing treatment during that time (Schroeder, 2022). Great Post!
Schroeder RA. Adaptation or Revolution: Telemental Health and Advanced Practice Psychiatric
Nursing During COVID-19. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
2022;28(3):241-248. doi:10.1177/1078390320970638
Wu, M., Xu, W., Yao, Y., Zhang, L., Guo, L., Fan, J., & Chen, J. (2020). Mental health status of students’ parents during COVID-19 pandemic and its influence factors. General psychiatry, 33(4), e100250. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2020-100250
Response 2
Hello,
I love the fact that your discussion is very precise on the impacts the Corona brought to psychiatric patients. The healthcare providers focused more on patients with COVID-19 leaving behind those who needed their attention. I remember how the imposition of lockdown to minimize the spread of COVID-19 affected many patients especially those who used to attend psychiatric clinics treatment and psychotherapy/counseling. Many people experienced anxiety and depression due to the fear of getting infected. This excercabated mental health problems. Restriction of movement in particular led to alot of fear of transmission among the patients. Lockdown and isolation affected people’s socila life, which often helps in coping with mental health problems (Kleinpell et al., 2021). Their conditions worsen and there were no physical meetings with a mental health care provider.
Another impact is lack of adequate finance to access quality care from the healthcare providers. Pandemic forced many companies to be shut down to avoid interactions and in this process, many patients were left unemployed and inadequate medical funds. Mostlftheoatients would prefer looking for food with the liile amount that they had rather than han seeking medication Their conditions worsen since they would raise the required cash to access medical services. Nonetheless, various shortcomings were acknowledges and appropriate measures such as tele-psychiatry havebeen developed and implemented to increase access to and utilization of mental health services, especially in the rural, underserved communities.
References
Kleinpell, R., Myers, C. R., Schorn, M. N., & Likes, W. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on APRN practice: Results from a national survey. Nursing Outlook, 69(5), 783-792. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2021.05.002
Zangani, C., Ostinelli, E. G., Smith, K. A., Hong, J. S., Macdonald, O., Reen, G., Reid, K., Vincent, C., Syed Sheriff, R., Harrison, P. J., Hawton, K., Pitman, A., Bale, R., Fazel, S., Geddes, J. R., & Cipriani, A. (2022). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global delivery of mental health services and telemental health: Systematic review. JMIR Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.2196/38600
response 3
Thank you so much for your post regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on treatment issues faced by individuals with mental illness and substance use disorders. As you mentioned, the economic downfall resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has led to further barriers in mental health access and care. Telehealth has been utilized to deliver the majority of mental health care throughout the pandemic. The transition from in person to telehealth has had benefits for continuation of mental health treatment (Siegel et al., 2021). However, there are limits regarding the type of mental health and substance abuse treatment that can be provided by telehealth. Individuals who are considered at an increased vulnerability risk in the mental health system, particularly individuals with serious mental illness, who are part of rural communities, and generally who have poor social determinants of health have not been able to receive the mental health care they need. A recent study that explored the advantages and disadvantages of telehealth for psychiatric treatment discussed other specific barriers faced by patients, such as digital illiteracy, inability to communicate nonverbally, lack of access to privacy, and network issues. Further, the lack of in person human connection and the challenges with building rapport, prescribing and obtaining medications, were noted to be further challenges for the provider and patient (Basavarajappa et al., 2022). As future PMHNP’s, I think it is important to recognize that a certain population of patients may benefit from telehealth services, likely those with less serious mental illness, and who have access to means for engagement in such care.
References
Basavarajappa, C., Grover, S., Dalal, P. K., Avasthi, A., Kumar, C. N., Manjunatha, N.,
Sahoo, S., Saha, G., Mehra, A., Singh, O. P., Tripathi, A., Gangadhar, B. N., & Math, S.
B. (2022). Perceived advantages and disadvantages of telepsychiatry – An
online survey of psychiatrists in India. Indian journal of psychiatry, 64(1), 93–97.
https://doi.org/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_332_21
Siegel, A., Zuo, Y., Moghaddamcharkari, N., McIntyre, R. S., & Rosenblat, J. D. (2021).
Barriers, benefits and interventions for improving the delivery of telemental
health services during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic: a systematic
review. Current opinion in psychiatry, 34(4), 434–443.
https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000714
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