Coronavirus’ Impact on Mental Health

Coronavirus has brought a great deal of attention to the topic of mental health. In addition to the Fear around the spread of the virus, the new practice of social distancing has also impacted public mental health. While there may be funny memes, isolation and/or being socially quarantined to your immediate family is taking a toll on mental health.

Even before the crisis, society has been working to remove the stigma around taking care of our mental health. And according to NBC, we have done a better job around reducing the stigma around mental health, but there is more to do. However, modern society has never experienced a widespread pandemic like Coronavirus. We have no idea how to manage mental health, especially in these uncharted waters, so we are avoiding it.

The emotional Level of Control around mental health has decreased dramatically over the last week. This is another measurement to indicate the public is avoiding and not addressing the topic. The Coronavirus is impacting the mental health and well-being of our family, friends, neighbors and strangers. Communication is key. Cognovi's AI is able to measure the lack of control that people are feeling over the coronavirus. The chart below illustrates the overall unsettled feeling of the public.

Before the stay at home orders, the public felt more in control of their mental health. However, once the stay at home orders were put into place, the level of control decreased.