Mental illness will be ’next wave’ of COVID-19 pandemic, epidemiologist says | CBC News
▻https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/months-isolation-mental-health-covid-1.5521649?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
An epidemiologist says social isolation could lead to a range of mental health issues as people face the prospect of living under the current COVID-19 restrictions for months.
Sandro Galea, dean at Boston University’s School of Public Health, says the isolation as well as the uncertainty about how long it will last and how the pandemic will play out can all contribute to increased anxiety.
"We humans are ultimately social. We’re social creatures and we do need interaction — physical and social — with others.
This week, public health officials in British Columbia announced that physical distancing orders would remain in place until May.
“I do think it’s [increasingly] less likely that we’ll be able to get back to more normal life, which I miss a lot, before at least the summer,” said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. “And then we need to be preparing for the potential of a second wave in the fall.”