COVID and mental health stress: No one is immune, says Harvard professor, ex-WHO expert

PROVIDENCE — The COVID pandemic has affected the mental health of untold millions of Americans and residents of other countries. And in this continuing public-health crisis, which is linked to rising suicide rates the world over, it has never been more critical to talk openly and seek professional help when warranted, says a mental health expert.

"Pay importance to your own mental health and with the people around you, look for early signs [of difficulties], talk to them and refer them for care if needed," advises Dr. Shekhar Saxena, professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Saxena served 20 years with the World Health Organization, eight of them as the head of the WHO's Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. He is this week's guest on "Story in the Public Square," the national public-TV and SiriusXM show that is a partnership of The Providence Journal/USA TODAY network and Salve Regina University's Pell Center.

Three more key takeaways:

With their brains still developing, children can be affected for life

"With some children, it's a catastrophic reaction and for other children, it is an incremental deficit that they're going to have throughout their life on their socioeconomic well-being, as well as their psychological and emotional well-being," Saxena said.

Adults are not immune

"It will not be an exaggeration to say that in one way or the other, all adults have been affected by the pandemic," Saxena said. "The restrictions imposed because of the pandemic have been severe. Many people have lost jobs, many people have been confined to their homes, many people have had to rediscover different ways of working, sometimes income has been decreased, some students find themselves not having access to education, and so on."

Disparities and discrimination exacerbate mental health challenges

"There are very clear relationships between poverty, lack of appropriate education, lack of job opportunities, discriminations of all kinds — whether they are based on gender, whether they're based on gender identity, based on race, ethnicity and other factors. All of them have an impact" on mental health.

Broadcast times and stations can be found at ow.ly/FqUy50GOYYJ.

©2021 www.providencejournal.com. Visit providencejournal.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.