Fear, Loss, Social Isolation, and Incomplete Grief Due to COVID-19: A Recipe for a Psychiatric Pandemic

Seyede Salehe Mortazavi; Shervin Assari; Amirali Alimohamadi; Mani Rafiee; Mohsen Shati

doi:10.32598/bcn.11.covid19.2549.1

Fear, Loss, Social Isolation, and Incomplete Grief Due to COVID-19: A Recipe for a Psychiatric Pandemic

Basic Clin Neurosci. 2020 Mar-Apr;11(2):225-232. doi: 10.32598/bcn.11.covid19.2549.1. Epub 2020 Jul 8.

Authors

Seyede Salehe Mortazavi^{1

2}, Shervin Assari³, Amirali Alimohamadi⁴, Mani Rafiee⁵, Mohsen Shati⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health (Tehran Institute of Psychiatry), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
² Spiritual Health Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
³ Department of Family Medicine, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ Department of Clinical Psychology, School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health (Tehran Institute of Psychiatry), Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Department of Clinical Psychology, Search Results, Faculty of Psychology & Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran.
⁶ Mental Health Research Center, Tehran Institute of Psychiatry, School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

The experience of the loss of the relatives, which is naturally one of the most stressful events in a person's life, has turned into a new concept and challenge for survivors and mental health professionals during the coronavirus era. We discussed how restrictions caused by social distancing potentially increase the likelihood of a phenomenon called complicated grief or prolonged bereavement disorder and multilayer response by case finding to increase the access to public education to manage this complicated situation.

Keywords: COVID-19; Incomplete grief; Loss; Pandemic; Social isolation.