The coronavirus, doctors are finding, can have lasting symptoms for survivors. So, it turns out, do the lockdowns.
Anxiety, depression, and loneliness are plaguing the public more than ever before as a result of prolonged isolation and a lack of community, and doctors are beginning to worry that a mental health crisis is on the horizon. And with that crisis comes its physical consequences: long-term addiction, drug abuse, alcoholism, and so on.
Mental health experts predicted at the beginning of the shutdown that we’d experience an uptick in despair-related cases. To anyone vaguely familiar with human nature, this comes as no surprise. Man is, after all, a being in motion and a social creature. Take away his community and his work, and he will struggle to find meaning and purpose.
So, how do we begin to repair the damage that’s been done? Well, that depends on whom you ask. Many doctors see cases of anxiety and depression and immediately go the medication route. That seems to be what’s happening right now: Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications and sleep aids have increased significantly over the past few months, according to data obtained by the Wall Street Journal. Anti-anxiety medications, such as Klonopin and Ativan, rose 34.1% in February and March, and psychiatrists wrote 86% more prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, primarily anti-depressants, such as Prozac and Lexapro.
Prescriptions such as these are attractive because “they work instantly,” according to James Potash, director of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins Medicine. But they come with a price tag. Many patients develop a tolerance to short-term treatments, such as Xanax, so they begin to seek higher dosages. And these higher dosages can lead to a sort of addiction since patients who stop taking their medications often experience a surge in anxiety or other drastic physical withdrawal symptoms, such as tremors or, in severe cases, seizures.
“If you have a boatload of Xanax, and you are slightly anxious, and you take one, you feel better. Next time you are anxious, instead of taking care of what is making you anxious, you’re much more likely to reach for the Xanax,” said Beth Salcedo, the former president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. “It can very quickly become a habit.”
To prevent this habit from forming, people struggling with anxiety, depression, or loneliness should look to other outlets first, such as exercise and socialization, Salcedo said.
Socializing, however, is a bit hard to do when the government forbids it.
The shutdown was arguably necessary at a certain point to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. But we need to recognize and face its costs, this mental health crisis included. This is not a problem that will simply disappear when the country reopens, though reopening will certainly help.
“If we don’t do something about it now,” said Paul Gionfriddo, president of the advocacy group Mental Health America, “people are going to be suffering from these mental-health impacts for years to come.”
