The Global Pandemic as a Life-Changer? Medical, Psychological, or Self Help during COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Representative Study

Tomasz Sobierajski, Stanisław Surma (), Monika Romańczyk and Marek Krzystanek
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Tomasz Sobierajski: Faculty of Applied Social Sciences and Resocialization, University of Warsaw, 26/28 Krakowskie Przedmieście Str., 00-927 Warsaw, Poland
Stanisław Surma: Clinic of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 45/47 Ziołowa Str., 40-635 Katowice, Poland
Monika Romańczyk: Clinic of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 45/47 Ziołowa Str., 40-635 Katowice, Poland
Marek Krzystanek: Clinic of Psychiatric Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Katowice, Medical University of Silesia, 45/47 Ziołowa Str., 40-635 Katowice, Poland

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-21

Abstract: The survey was conducted on a representative adult sample of Poles one year after the announcement of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The survey aimed to determine how the public in different social groups and age categories assessed the impact of the pandemic on their personal and professional lives, and where and to what extent respondents sought psychological and medical help to cope with the effects caused by the pandemic. The survey was conducted using the CAWI technique based on a questionnaire designed by an interdisciplinary team of experts. The study indicated that 61.9% of respondents declared that the COVID-19 pandemic did not bring any good, and had rather adverse effects on their lives, and 57.7% of respondents declared that the pandemic had not affected their professional lives. Nearly half of the respondents (45.0%) declared that although the pandemic forced them to change their personal lives, it did not work out for them. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, every eighth respondent (12.3%) contacted a mental health specialist—a psychologist, or psychiatrist. Young people most often use psychological and medical help. Due to its representative nature, the survey can be used for in-depth qualitative analyses of the impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health.

Keywords: antidepressants; psychiatry; public health; society; SARS-CoV-2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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