The psychological effects of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic on the general population

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Infectious disease epidemics in recent years have had a significant impact on the general population of the various states, on their physical health, as well as on their mental well-being.

Aim: The aim of this study is to review and compose the existing international literature, which records the psychological effects of the Sars-cov-2 pandemic on the general population.

Methodology: A literature review of studies published in English language, from January 2020 to August 2021 in PubMed, Google Scholar and ResearchGate. Exclusion criteria were studies in a language other than English and type of article (letter to publisher, editorial article).

Results: The psychological effects of the Sars-CoV-2 pandemic on the general population observed to be: anxiety and fear for possible infection by the virus, sleep disorders, depressive symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and feelings of loneliness which were significantly associated with gender, age, income, employment status, marital status, exposure to social media for information about the virus, chronic organic and mental illness and abuse of alcohol.

Conclusions: A thorough review of the literature collected useful data that could contribute to design the strategies and public health interventions, the appropriate training of health professionals, the prevention and effective management of pandemic-like emergencies.

Keywords: Psychological effects, infectious disease, pandemic