engleski

Mentalno zdravlje i psihološke krizne intervencije tijekom COVID-19 pandemije i potresa u Hrvatskoj

The newly discovered coronavirus, now called SARS-CoV-2, was first detected in Wuhan, China as a cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome, disease called COVID-19. From the beginning of 2020 it rapidly spread, affecting the whole world, but with a major impact in Europe and North America. At the moment of writing, there are more than 2 million confirmed cases with more than 125.000 confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 globally. In Croatia, there are currently 1.741 confirmed cases with 34 deaths related to the virus. The COVID-19 rapid spread and magnitude of pandemic unleashed panic among people which warrants public health officials to also address the epidemic of fear. Research on the psychological reactions to previous epidemics and pandemics suggests that various psychological factors may play a role in coronaphobia. Novelty and uncertainty what the unknown brings is likely the cause of COVID-19 fear. With the sharp increase in number of affected persons by pandemic, both infected or suspected cases in isolation, fear and anxiety grew in general population, which warranted a significant increase in need for psychiatric support for both patients and medical staff. After initial stabilization of the situation and a prompt response to increased needs for mental support, during this time of pandemic, self-isolations and imposed social distancing, the strongest earthquake this city has experienced in the last 140 years hit Croatian capital Zagreb. During these trying times, maintaining good mental health of both medical personnel as well as the general population is crucial for both health and mental damage control. In Croatia, crisis interventions aimed for those most exposed to mental impact of pandemic and natural disasters is limited.

mental health ; crisis intervention ; COVID-19 ; pandemics ; earthquakes

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