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Rose N, Manning N, Bentall R, Bhui K, Burgess R, Carr S, Cornish F, Devakumar D, Dowd JB, Ecks S, Faulkner A, Ruck Keene A, Kirkbride J, Knapp M, Lovell AM, Martin P, Moncrieff J, Parr H, Pickersgill M, Richardson G, Sheard S. The social underpinnings of mental distress in the time of COVID-19 - time for urgent action. Wellcome Open Res 2020; 5:166. [PMID: 32802967 PMCID: PMC7411522 DOI: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.16123.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolas Rose
- Centre for Society and Mental Health, King's College London, London, WC2B 4BG, UK
| | - Nick Manning
- Centre for Society and Mental Health, King's College London, London, WC2B 4BG, UK
| | - Richard Bentall
- Department of Psychology,, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S1 2LT, UK
| | - Kamaldeep Bhui
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK
| | - Rochelle Burgess
- Institute for Global Health, University College, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Sarah Carr
- Institute for Mental Health, University of Birmingham, UK, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
| | - Flora Cornish
- Methodology Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Delan Devakumar
- Institute for Global Health, University College, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Jennifer B Dowd
- Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 1JD, UK
| | - Stefan Ecks
- Department of Anthropology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH8 9LD, UK
| | - Alison Faulkner
- Survivor Researcher and Trainer, Independent Researcher, London, UK
| | | | - James Kirkbride
- Department of Psychiatry, University College, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Martin Knapp
- Care Policy and Evaluation Centre, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, WC2A 2AE, UK
| | - Anne M Lovell
- CERMES3, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, 75006, France
| | - Paul Martin
- Department of Sociology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
| | - Joanna Moncrieff
- Department of Psychiatry, University College, London, WC1N 1EH, UK
| | - Hester Parr
- Department of Geography, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
| | | | | | - Sally Sheard
- Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GB, UK
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