Psychosocial Analysis of the Pandemic and Its Aftermath

Psychosocial Analysis of the Pandemic and Its Aftermath
Author: Bruno Boccara
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 149
Release: 2022-10-04
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0761873570

This manifesto is motivated by the daunting psychosocial issues that were so strikingly revealed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Of particular interest is the collective denial of facts, which resulted in public health policy mistakes and fostered distrust. In hindsight, this could have been prevented. Boccara shows how the core psychosocial response to the pandemic observed in most countries turned out to be wishing for it to either magically go away, as if it had never happened or be dealt with in an effortless way. Magical thinking and, as a consequence denying reality, often prevailed. As such, the psychosocial dynamics deepened the denial even further as several countries ended-up deciding to “live with the virus”. Yet, deliberately choosing endemicity of the coronavirus may lead to insurmountable challenges. Humanity is, therefore, truly finding itself at a turning point. Boccara argues that successfully facing systemic challenges ahead will require societies to systematically take into account ways in which psychosocial dynamics -particularly those operating at the societal unconscious level- impact public policy and societal level dialogue. By this, we mean understanding how mental representations and fantasies, shared anxieties, and social defenses mobilized against those anxieties impact the society; in other words how nations function as social systems. There has probably never been a more critical time than now for societies worldwide to approach critical decisions from a psychosocial perspective. Failing to do so could lead to psychosocial tipping points whereas the world as whole would increasingly mobilized regressed defenses that would make it impossible for societies to manage such challenges. There comes a time when ideas potentially capable of profoundly changing the world must be brought to the centers of decision making. That time is now upon us.

Mental Health Effects of COVID-19

Mental Health Effects of COVID-19
Author: Ahmed Moustafa
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 350
Release: 2021-06-11
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0128242884

The physical effects of COVID-19 are felt globally. However, one issue that has not been sufficiently addressed is the impact of COVID-19 on mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, citizens worldwide are enduring widespread lockdowns; children are out of school; and millions have lost their jobs, which has caused anxiety, depression, insomnia, and distress. Mental Health Effects of COVID-19 provides a comprehensive analysis of mental health problems resulting from COVID-19, including depression, suicidal thoughts and attempts, trauma, and PTSD. The book includes chapters detailing the impact of COVID-19 on the family's well-being and society dynamics. The book concludes with an explanation on how meditation and online treatment methods can be used to combat the effects on mental health. - Discusses family dynamics, domestic violence, and aggression due to COVID-19 - Details the psychological impact of COVID-19 on children and adolescents - Includes key information on depression, anxiety, and suicide as a result of COVID-19

Coronavirus, Psychoanalysis, and Philosophy

Coronavirus, Psychoanalysis, and Philosophy
Author: Fernando Castrillón
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2021-04-06
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 100037033X

Originally published in the European Journal of Psychoanalysis (EJP), the essays in this volume are a set of responses to the coronavirus crisis by distinguished philosophers and psychoanalysts from around the globe. The coronavirus irrupted making swift and deep cuts in the fabric of our existence: the risks of contagion and indefinite periods of isolation have radically altered the functioning of society. Pandemics do not wait for comprehension in order to proliferate. Confusion, sickness, and death punctuate the failure of governments worldwide to respond. This collection of writings examines the effects of the pandemic and the conditions that make possible such a global crisis. The writers provoke us to consider how capitalism, governmental power, and biopolitics mold the contours of life and death. The contributors in this collection ignite urgent political dialogue, address emergent transformations in the social field and offer perspectives on shifts in subjectivity and psychoanalytic practice. Beyond providing reflections on the impact of the coronavirus, the authors point to determinants of how the crisis will unfold and what may be on the horizon. This book will be invaluable to psychoanalysts, psychotherapists, philosophers, and to all those interested in the implications of the virus for psychoanalytic practice and theory, and the social, cultural and political spheres of our world.

Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response

Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response
Author: World Health Organization
Publisher: World Health Organization
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2009
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9241547685

This guidance is an update of WHO global influenza preparedness plan: the role of WHO and recommendations for national measures before and during pandemics, published March 2005 (WHO/CDS/CSR/GIP/2005.5).

Health at a Glance: Europe 2020 State of Health in the EU Cycle

Health at a Glance: Europe 2020 State of Health in the EU Cycle
Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
Total Pages: 237
Release: 2020-11-19
Genre:
ISBN: 926481194X

The 2020 edition of Health at a Glance: Europe focuses on the impact of the COVID‐19 crisis. Chapter 1 provides an initial assessment of the resilience of European health systems to the COVID-19 pandemic and their ability to contain and respond to the worst pandemic in the past century.

Psychiatry of Pandemics

Psychiatry of Pandemics
Author: Damir Huremović
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 188
Release: 2019-05-15
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 3030153460

This book focuses on how to formulate a mental health response with respect to the unique elements of pandemic outbreaks. Unlike other disaster psychiatry books that isolate aspects of an emergency, this book unifies the clinical aspects of disaster and psychosomatic psychiatry with infectious disease responses at the various levels, making it an excellent resource for tackling each stage of a crisis quickly and thoroughly. The book begins by contextualizing the issues with a historical and infectious disease overview of pandemics ranging from the Spanish flu of 1918, the HIV epidemic, Ebola, Zika, and many other outbreaks. The text acknowledges the new infectious disease challenges presented by climate changes and considers how to implement systems to prepare for these issues from an infection and social psyche perspective. The text then delves into the mental health aspects of these crises, including community and cultural responses, emotional epidemiology, and mental health concerns in the aftermath of a disaster. Finally, the text considers medical responses to situation-specific trauma, including quarantine and isolation-associated trauma, the mental health aspects of immunization and vaccination, survivor mental health, and support for healthcare personnel, thereby providing guidance for some of the most alarming trends facing the medical community. Written by experts in the field, Psychiatry of Pandemics is an excellent resource for infectious disease specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists, immunologists, hospitalists, public health officials, nurses, and medical professionals who may work patients in an infectious disease outbreak.

Anxiety Disorders

Anxiety Disorders
Author: Yong-Ku Kim
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 576
Release: 2020-02-17
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9789813297043

This book reviews all important aspects of anxiety disorders with the aim of shedding new light on these disorders through combined understanding of traditional and novel paradigms. The book is divided into five sections, the first of which reinterprets anxiety from a network science perspective, examining the altered topological properties of brain networks in anxiety disorders. The second section discusses recent advances in understanding of the neurobiology of anxiety disorders, covering, for example, gene-environmental interactions and the roles of neurotransmitter systems and the oxytocin system. A wide range of diagnostic and clinical issues in anxiety disorders are then addressed, before turning attention to contemporary treatment approaches in the context of novel bio-psychosocial-behavioral models, including bio- and neurofeedback, cognitive behavioral therapy, neurostimulation, virtual reality exposure therapy, pharmacological interventions, psychodynamic therapy, and CAM options. The final section is devoted to precision psychiatry in anxiety disorders, an increasingly important area as we move toward personalized treatment. Anxiety Disorders will be of interest for all researchers and clinicians in the field.

The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic and Change

The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a Time of Pandemic and Change
Author: Pauline Boss
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 158
Release: 2021-12-14
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 1324016825

How do we begin to cope with loss that cannot be resolved? The COVID-19 pandemic has left many of us haunted by feelings of anxiety, despair, and even anger. In this book, pioneering therapist Pauline Boss identifies these vague feelings of distress as caused by ambiguous loss, losses that remain unclear and hard to pin down, and thus have no closure. Collectively the world is grieving as the pandemic continues to change our everyday lives. With a loss of trust in the world as a safe place, a loss of certainty about health care, education, employment, lingering anxieties plague many of us, even as parts of the world are opening back up again. Yet after so much loss, our search must be for a sense of meaning, and not something as elusive and impossible as "closure." This book provides many strategies for coping: encouraging us to increase our tolerance of ambiguity and acknowledging our resilience as we express a normal grief, and still look to the future with hope and possibility.

Handbook of Research on the Impacts and Implications of COVID-19 on the Tourism Industry

Handbook of Research on the Impacts and Implications of COVID-19 on the Tourism Industry
Author: Demir, Mahmut
Publisher: IGI Global
Total Pages: 906
Release: 2021-06-25
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1799882330

The tourism sector has been deeply affected particularly in economic terms by the COVID-19 pandemic. This crisis has led to new practices and radical changes. Scientists emphasize that mankind will face pandemics more frequently in the forthcoming years. Thus, it is important to understand the negative impacts the COVID-19 pandemic had on the tourism sector as well as the measures that were and are being put in place to protect the industry during future outbreaks. The Handbook of Research on the Impacts and Implications of COVID-19 on the Tourism Industry is a comprehensive reference source that reflects upon the evaluations of the experienced and ongoing pandemic crisis in the context of the tourism sector. The positive and negative effects experienced by tourism employees and tourists are examined, and post-pandemic processes and business practices are evaluated. Covering topics including consumer rights in tourism, dynamic changes in the tourism industry, and employment in tourism, this book is suitable for travel agencies, restaurateurs, hotel managers, brand managers, marketers, advertisers, managers, executives, hospitality personnel, policymakers, government officials, tourism practitioners, students, academicians, and researchers seeking the latest sustainable policies and practices that are being utilized to increase the productivity of the tourism sector and will allow it to thrive in the years to come.

Textbook of Disaster Psychiatry

Textbook of Disaster Psychiatry
Author: Robert J. Ursano
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2017-05-23
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1107138493

This book presents a decade of advances in the psychological, biological and social responses to disasters, helping medics and leaders prepare and react.