Top

Published in:

01-12-2020 | Original Paper

The Nature and Treatment of Pandemic-Related Psychological Distress

Authors: William C. Sanderson, Vinushini Arunagiri, Allison P. Funk, Karen L. Ginsburg, Jacqueline K. Krychiw, Anne R. Limowski, Olenka S. Olesnycky, Zoe Stout

Published in: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy | Issue 4/2020

Abstract

The COVID-19 crisis has created a “mental health pandemic” throughout the world. Scientific data are not available to fully understand the nature of the resulting mental health impact given the very recent onset of the pandemic, nevertheless, there is a need to act immediately to develop psychotherapeutic strategies that may alleviate pandemic-related distress. The psychological distress, in particular fear and sadness, is a function of the pandemic’s negative impact upon people’s ability to meet their most basic needs (e.g., physical safety, financial security, social connection, participation in meaningful activities). This paper presents evidence-based cognitive behavioral strategies that should prove useful in reducing the emotional suffering associated with the COVID crisis.

Adam, T. C., & Epel, E. S. (2007). Stress, eating and the reward system. Physiology & Behavior, 91(4), 449–458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2007.04.011.CrossRef

Borkovec, T. D., Wilkinson, L., Folensbee, R., & Lerman, C. (1983). Stimulus control applications to the treatment of worry. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21(3), 247–251.CrossRefPubMed

Boserup, B., McKenney, M., & Elkbuli, A. (2020). Alarming trends in US domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2020.04.077.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Breitbart, W., Pessin, H., Rosenfeld, B., Applebaum, A. J., Lichtenthal, W. G., Li, Y., ... Fenn, N. (2018). Individual meaning‐centered psychotherapy for the treatment of psychological and existential distress: A randomized controlled trial in patients with advanced cancer. Cancer, 124(15), 3231–3239. https://doi.org/10.1002/cncr.31539.

Briggs, C. A., & Pehrsson, D. E. (2008). Use of bibliotherapy in the treatment of grief and loss: A guide to current counseling practices. Adultspan Journal, 7(1), 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2161-0029.2008.tb00041.x.CrossRef

Brooks, S. K., Webster, R. K., Smith, L. E., Woodland, L., Wessely, S., Greenberg, N., et al. (2020). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: Rapid review of the evidence. The Lancet, 395(10227), 912–920. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8.CrossRef

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, June 10). Mental health household pulse survey. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/covid19/pulse/mental-health.htm.

Cibich, M., Woodyatt, L., & Wenzel, M. (2016). Moving beyond “shame is bad”: How a functional emotion can become problematic. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 10(9), 471–483. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12263.CrossRef

Da, B. L., Im, G. Y., & Schiano, T. D. (2020). COVID-19 hangover: A rising tide of alcohol use disorder and alcohol-related liver disease. Hepatology. https://doi.org/10.1002/hep.31307.CrossRefPubMed

Dusharme, J. (2020, June 11). How to soothe your ‘re-entry anxiety’ as COVID-19 lockdowns lift. Time. https://time.com/5850143/covid-19-re-entry-anxiety/.

Fiorillo, A., & Gorwood, P. (2020). The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and implications for clinical practice. European Psychiatry, 63(1), e32, 1–2. https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.35.

Fontenelle, L. F., & Miguel, E. C. (2020). The impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the diagnosis and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Depression & Anxiety, 37, 510–511. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23037.CrossRef

Gross, J. J., & John, O. P. (2003). Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(2), 348–362. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348.CrossRefPubMed

Ito, T. A., Larsen, J. T., Smith, N. K., & Cacioppo, J. T. (1998). Negative information weighs more heavily on the brain: The negativity bias in evaluative categorizations. Journal of personality and social psychology, 75(4), 887. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.75.4.887.CrossRefPubMed

Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2010). Stress, food, and inflammation: Psychoneuroimmunology and nutrition at the cutting edge. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72(4), 365–369. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181dbf489.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Kripke, D. F. (1998). Light treatment for nonseasonal depression: Speed, efficacy, and combined treatment. Journal of Affective Disorders, 49(2), 109–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(98)00005-6.CrossRefPubMed

Lambert, G. W., Reid, C., Kaye, D. M., Jennings, G. L., & Esler, M. D. (2002). Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain. The Lancet, 360(9348), 1840–1842. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11737-5.CrossRef

Lazarus, R. S., & Alfert, E. (1964). Short-circuiting of threat by experimentally altering cognitive appraisal. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 69(2), 195–205. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0044635.CrossRef

Limowski, A. R., Krychiw, J. K., Arunagiri, V., & Sanderson, W. C. (2020). COVID-19 mental health consultation service: Intervention Protocol. PsyArXiv.https://osf.io/7caqg/.

Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57(9), 705–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.57.9.705.CrossRefPubMed

Lynch, J., Prihodova, L., Dunne, P. J., McMahon, G., Carroll, A., Walsh, C., et al. (2018). Impact of mantra meditation on health and wellbeing: A systematic review protocol. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 18, 30–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eujim.2018.01.008.CrossRef

Marques, L., Bartuska, A. D., Cohen, J. N., & Youn, S. J. (2020). Three steps to flatten the mental health need curve amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression and Anxiety, 37(5), 405–406. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23031.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

McGowan, S. K., & Behar, E. (2013). A preliminary investigation of stimulus control training for worry: Effects on anxiety and insomnia. Behavior Modification, 37(1), 90–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445512455661.CrossRefPubMed

Panchal, N., Kamal, R., Orgera, K., Cox, C., Garfield, R., Hamel, L., et al. (2020). The implications of COVID-19 for mental health and substance use. San Francisco: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Papa, A., Lancaster, N. G., & Kahler, J. (2014). Commonalities in grief responding across bereavement and non-bereavement losses. Journal of Affective Disorders, 161, 136–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2014.03.018.CrossRefPubMed

Pfefferbaum, B., & North, C. S. (2020). Mental Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic. New England Journal of Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2008017.CrossRefPubMed

Rajkumar, R. P. (2020). COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 52, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2020.102066.CrossRef

Rauch, S. A., Simon, N. M., & Rothbaum, B. O. (2020). Rising tide: Responding to the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression and Anxiety, 37, 505–509. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.23058.CrossRefPubMed

Rizvi, S. L., & Linehan, M. M. (2005). The treatment of maladaptive shame in borderline personality disorder: A pilot study of “opposite action”. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 12(4), 437–447. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1077-7229(05)80071-9.CrossRef

Ropiek, D. (2010). How Risky Is It, Really?: Why Our Fears Don't Always Match the Facts. United States: McGraw-Hill.

Rosenberg, A. R. (2020). Cultivating deliberate resilience during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic. JAMA Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1436.CrossRefPubMed

Sanderson, W. C., Arunagiri, V., Funk, A. P., Ginsburg, K. L., Klurfeld, Z. B., Krychiw, J. K., et al. (2020). Coping with fear and sadness during a pandemic. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3DZ69.CrossRef

Schuch, F. B., Vancampfort, D., Firth, J., Rosenbaum, S., Ward, P. B., Silva, E. S., ... Fleck, M. P. (2018). Physical activity and incident depression: A meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. American Journal of Psychiatry, 175(7), 631–648. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2018.17111194.

Schleider, J. L. (2020). Single-session consultation for emotional and behavioral health. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/XNZ2T.CrossRef

Schleider, J. L., Sung, J., Bianco, A., Gonzalez, A., Vivian, D., & Mullarkey, M. C. (2020, May 29). Open pilot trial of a single-session consultation service for clients on psychotherapy wait-lists. Retrieved from https://psyarxiv.com/fdwqk.

Strakowski, S., Keller, A., & Ghaemi, N. (2020, May 8). New projections on suicide, substance abuse, and COVD-19 [Video]. Medscape. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/929632.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2019). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP19-5068, NSDUH Series H-54). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/.

Sun, L. (2020, April 9). CDC director warns second wave of coronavirus is likely to be even more devastating. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/21/coronavirus-secondwave-cdcdirector/.

Tedeschi, R. G., & Calhoun, L. G. (2004). Posttraumatic growth: conceptual foundations and empirical evidence. Psychological Inquiry, 15(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1501_01.CrossRef

Vogel, E. A., Rose, J. P., Roberts, L. R., & Eckles, K. (2014). Social comparison, social media, and self-esteem. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(4), 206–222. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000047.CrossRef

Volkow, N. D. (2020). Collision of the COVID-19 and addiction epidemics. Annals of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-1212.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Title: The Nature and Treatment of Pandemic-Related Psychological Distress
Authors: William C. Sanderson
Vinushini Arunagiri
Allison P. Funk
Karen L. Ginsburg
Jacqueline K. Krychiw
Anne R. Limowski
Olenka S. Olesnycky
Zoe Stout
Publication date: 01-12-2020
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy / Issue 4/2020
Print ISSN: 0022-0116
Electronic ISSN: 1573-3564
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-020-09463-7

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

The Nature and Treatment of Pandemic-Related Psychological Distress

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on sleep in brain health

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 4/2020

What is Morita Therapy? The Nature, Origins, and Cross-Cultural Application of a Unique Japanese Psychotherapy

Susan M. Pollak: Self-Compassion for Parents: Nurture Your Child by Caring for Yourself

Becoming “Teletherapeutic”: Harnessing Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) for Challenges of the Covid-19 Era

CBT-Informed Interventions for Essential Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Study of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Versus Cognitive Behavior Therapy on Emotion Regulation and Mindfulness in Patients with Generalized Anxiety Disorder

The Capacity to End: Termination of Mentalization-Based Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder