2020 was by far the worst year we have ever had in an extremely long time. With various different political backgrounds dividing the American people, with an ongoing problem of systemic racism resulting in violence and even further division amongst the American people, the icing on the cake was the start of this on-going pandemic. I have never experienced anything so horrid like I have this Covid pandemic. I’ve seen family members pass away, I’ve seen hundreds of thousands of people being severely sick on social media, and I have seen nothing but anxiety and depression fill the hearts of those who have lost someone during this COVID pandemic. With the death of various family members in my own family, I saw my mental health had deteriorated significantly throughout the course of the 2020 year. It seemed as though there was nothing going to be able to stop this pandemic from causing the amount of damage it already has. We still see that it is a huge problem around the world today. Just my daily interactions with Loyola students has solidified my idea that everybody is suffering somehow, someway. I see students being absolutely burnt out with the amount of course work they have to deal with, along with worrying about what family members are fighting this battle against this horrid virus. I speak for myself and others, as this 2020 year has been the worst year of my life, and I feel like nothing will be able to beat this year in terms of everything that has gone on. I truly sympathize for all people of different backgrounds and cultures who have lost a loved one due to COVID, and are suffering severely through depression and anxiety. Mental health is already not talked about enough, and I feel as though all brothers and sisters are suffering from staying silent. Everybody has so much on their plate, and they feel like they may be a hindrance to others when they need to talk about what is truly bothering them. Death in itself is no easy pill to swallow, but with everything going on around the world, this recipe for disaster has truly affected people of all sexual orientations, different skin colors, and religious backgrounds as well.
In Kaylin E. Hills work, Abnormal emotional reactivity in depression: Contrasting theoretical models using neurophysiological data, she delves into various different theoretical models of different emotional experiences when someone is suffering from depression. These various models included different reactivity to both positive stimuli and negative stimuli, and various different emotional responses due to the context of a particular situation. Although unsure about whether or not these models directly correlate with depression rather than depressive symptoms, they decided to put these models to the test. To test whether these different models were applicable to depression, she utilized a structural equation modelling technique on ERPS to compare the various different theoretical models available. Through this comparison technique, they were able to integrate various different subjects including advanced statistics, neuroscience and clinical psychology to ultimately determine whether these models accurately apply to depression. Participants were asked to be involved in both a questionnaire and an experiment entailing a passive viewing emotional task (participants were shown different stimuli [positive/negative]). From the results of the experiment, it was established that after viewing both pleasant and unpleasant stimuli, a non-significant relationship was established between emotional reactivity and depression. But it was observed that after thorough analysis of the SEM data, there was data showing significant emotional reactivity to both kinds of stimuli for various kinds of depressive systems. It was then concluded that these various different theoretical models were directly applicable to depression, rather than depressive symptoms. I would love to see how these various different models showed depression amongst all people during the COVID-19 pandemic. This would be quite an interesting study to look into.
Depression has become common everywhere around the world, and Edmond Pui Hang Choi did a study in Hong Kong about how citizens displayed both anxiety and depression in the first 3 months of the pandemic starting. Researchers were interested in studying how mental health has been severely impacted by COVID-19. Participants were asked to take a questionnaire that involved the generalized anxiety disorder (GAD-7), patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and also a scale that was related to COVID 19 (Hang Choi 2020). As a result of the questionnaire, it was established that 19% of the participants who took part suffered from depression and another 14% of the participants struggled from anxiety. It was also observed that 25.4% of participants had admitted that their mental health has significantly deteriorated since the start of the COVID pandemic. This deterioration to their mental health has been associated with constantly worrying about being at risk for COVID, not having enough surgical masks, not being able to work from home, and various other different things as well. This study was extremely alarming for researchers because it was ultimately suggested that the mental health of citizens from Hong Kong has severely deteriorated over the course of the pandemic. Both high rates of depression and anxiety is significant because another study correlated coronavirus anxiety/depression to severe things including alcohol abuse, suicidal thoughts, hopelessness, and other negative feelings as well.
This pandemic has ruined opportunities for individuals pursuing a specific career/job/internship, it has deprived individuals of happiness, it has deprived people from living stress free, and it will continue to do so. It is quite baffling to me still that people truly believe they can defeat the virus by going against the word of health officials. People are losing loved ones left and right, people are losing their jobs due to places shutting down/closing, and students are suffering from overloading. Everyone is suffering somehow, some way. This pandemic has tested us in every way, shape and form, and it has truly led to the demise of our mental health. Trying to have to live a normal life while hearing about losing loved ones or a loved one getting sick is nearly impossible. Even just scrolling through social media, you can see hundreds of thousands of people suffering everyday due to their own reasons. I can only imagine how health care workers are feeling, having to take care of dying patients and watching countless patients pass away in the physicians hands. This pandemic has been nothing short of horrid, and that is why we see depression/anxiety rates increasing all throughout the world. It is vital that we take action in ensuring our mental health is adequate enough to help us withstand whatever is going on around the world. It is impossible to take a break from reality without being overwhelmed with everything going on around us. I pray that we can bounce back from this tragic pandemic, but there is no sign indicating that this pandemic is going away anytime soon. Stay safe people.
Work Cited
Choi, E., Hui, B., & Wan, E. (2020). Depression and Anxiety in Hong Kong during COVID-19.
International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(10), 3740.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17103740
Hill, K. E., South, S. C., Egan, R. P., & Foti, D. (2019). Abnormal emotional reactivity in
depression: Contrasting theoretical models using neurophysiological data. Biological psychology, 141, 35–43. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.12.011
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