María José Carmona
First comes the accelerated heartbeat, followed by trembling, sweating, shivering and difficulty breathing. In March 2020, 3.4 million people asked Google: ‘Am I having a panic attack?’ It was the largest query on the topic ever recorded by the search engine.
The toll that the Covid-19 pandemic has taken on mental health is no longer disputed. Fear of illness, uncertainty, loneliness, stay-at-home orders, unemployment, school closures and work disruptions have led to a clear increase in anxiety and stress, particularly in high-risk populations such as healthcare workers.
According to MindCovid, one of 140 research projects under way worldwide tracking the psychological aftermath of the crisis, almost half of Spain’s healthcare workers showed symptoms of anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder during the first wave of the pandemic. And, as the study shows, many of these symptoms remain one year later.
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