A nationwide survey of psychological distress among Chinese people in the COVID-19 epidemic: implications and policy recommendations

Jianyin Qiu, Bin Shen, Min Zhao, Zhen Wang, Bin Xie, Yifeng Xu, Jianyin Qiu, Bin Shen, Min Zhao, Zhen Wang, Bin Xie, Yifeng Xu

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic emerged in Wuhan, China, spread nationwide and then onto half a dozen other countries between December 2019 and early 2020. The implementation of unprecedented strict quarantine measures in China has kept a large number of people in isolation and affected many aspects of people's lives. It has also triggered a wide variety of psychological problems, such as panic disorder, anxiety and depression. This study is the first nationwide large-scale survey of psychological distress in the general population of China during the COVID-19 epidemic.

Keywords: anxiety; depression; disease notification; panic disorder; psychological trauma.

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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Source: PubMed

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