COVID-DAS: Preparing for Post-COVID Depression Epidemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic people can experience stress, anxiety, fear, sadness, loneliness and mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression might worsen. Surveys show a major increase in the number adults who report symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression during the pandemic. Some people have increased their use of alcohol or drugs, thinking that can help them cope with their fears about the pandemic. In reality, using these substances can worsen anxiety and depression. Aim and objectives: Design and validate a tool for identification of psychological distress due to COVID 19 Pandemic in general population and patients attending a tertiary care psychiatric facility in northern India. Developing recommendations for adaptive mental hygiene in target population manifesting onset or exacerbation of psychological distress due to COVID-19 Pandemic and its phenomenon. Materials and methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional survey in the aforementioned context was approved by the Ethics Committee at Government Medical College Srinagar and SMHS Associated Hospitals. The data was gathered via convenience sampling using a semi-structured questionnaire developed on the pattern of Patient health questionnaire (PHQ9) and Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD7) by the authors and named as COVID-DAS (Distress acknowledgment scale). Results: COVID DAS was circulated among a total of 1002 subjects. a breakup of online, offline and considered responses amounted to a response rate of 70% . COVID DAS was prepared using six sections. Conclusion: Sociologists and mental health experts world over are expressing legitimate concerns about the rise of psycho-social problems like suicide, exploitation of weaker sections of society in the form of domestic violence, workplace harassment, withholding dues, denying healthcare access to name a few. To make matters worse loads of unclassified and inauthentic information is turning people into anxiety capsules that could explode at any moment. A need was felt to assess COVID pandemic related distress and coping measures in general population, hence this manuscript.