Letter to the Editor: London-based psychologist is right about mental health and the pandemic

The gaps in understanding mental health during the pandemic are clear

Courtesy of Yasmeen Sallam

By Yasmeen Sallam | July 5, 2020

In unprecedented times of crisis, with underlying institutional injustices, I agree, mental health responses have been severely inadequate to an almost disturbing point. Psychologist Rochelle Burgess’ article on May 4 explicitly describes the way in which our world has devastatingly, but not surprisingly, swept significant and necessary mental health measures under the rug and now, more than ever, we are seeing the detrimental effects. 

Without proper community development, and with severe lack of proper attention, people are left empty-handed in these unpredictable times. Repeating solutions that aren’t tackling these issues leave people in lower-income and impoverished areas suffering. With statistics including 700 million in extreme poverty, one in three women victims of domestic violence, and 70 million people displaced from their homes, we see that these are some of many ingredients to the catastrophe that the coronavirus responses have worsened. 

Anxiety, depression, and suicide rates are surging throughout the world, specifically in poor communities, but while most health organizations and political societies are focused on other COVID-19 responses and efforts, victims of mental health and poverty are left stranded and helpless. 

Solutions, including “self-meditating apps,” are not the solutions that will help a woman who has recently lost her job and is now struggling to provide food for her family. “Going on more walks” is not going to help a man who just had to file bankruptcy for his business, after losing significant income from having to shut down due to a stay-at-home order. Counseling services, connecting callers to information about food bank resources, and emergency housing for domestic violence victims, are extremely necessary and worth sharing. But, they are not the only necessary actions that are crucial for this moment. 

As our world has succeeded in providing resources for the immediate public health crisis, it is crucial that they prepare for what will happen as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. Now, more than ever. More services, more resources. More services, more resources! 

Yasmeen Sallam is a rising sophomore majoring in Public Health in the College of Arts and Sciences. The opinions expressed by the author are theirs alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Eagle and its staff.