抽象的

Impact of COVID 19 lockdown on mental health of health care professionals.

Hari Shanker Alampally

An epidemic is a disease which has a larger population under its influence within a short period of time, pandemic occurs on a large scale crossing international boundaries affecting an even larger population than the epidemic. One of the first recorded histories of any epidemic was influenza by the Indian Sanskrit scholars around 1200BC. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now recognised as global pandemic after its identification in China.The current COVID19 epidemic has induced fear in the community, also made the understanding of mental health status of society necessary. Public health professionals working in the field related to the virus pandemic may also be exposed to stressful conditions along with the fear of exposure to virus. Another group of health workers affected alongside the general health care providers for coronavirus include Dental practitioners. Dentists are the first to get exposed to saliva which can act as vehicles for the transmission of viruses similar to other influenza viruses. Dentists are usually prone to psychological stress and financial pressures from the time they start pursuing education and in clinical practice they are exposed to higher magnitude of stresses related to their physical health as well. Psychological impact of the crisis can be emerging very soon among the health care workers along with those who survived the pandemic. Taking past pandemics as reference, being prepared for the psychological effect of the current pandemic on society can guide us to overcome the future crisis which is waiting.