A crisis within the crisis: The mental health situation of refugees in the world during the 2019 coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Júnior, Jucier Gonçalves; de Sales, Jair Paulino; Moreira, Marcial Moreno; Pinheiro, Woneska Rodrigues; Lima, Carlos Kennedy Tavares; Neto, Modesto Leite Rolim
• Is Part Of: Psychiatry research. Volume 288(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: Coronavirus infection -- Mental health -- Refugees; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- periodicals; Psychiatrie -- Périodiques; 616.89
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113000
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0165-1781

Abstract

Highlights: Refugees faced several challenges due to their condition. With the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees encounter several difficulties: adapting to the language while trying to obtain reliable information; the unhealthy spaces in which they live, overcrowded, without access to water, basic sanitation, food are also factors that aggravate their condition. Lack of human resources due to quarantine and the lack of infrastructure of support agencies in countries that have received refugees also mitigates assistance. All of these factors associated with fear and uncertainties about the future are consistent risk factors for an increase in cases of COVID-19 infection as well as psychiatric illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Abstract: Background: 68.5 million people around the world have been forced to leave their houses. Refugees have mainly to face their adaption in a host country, which involves bureaucracy, different culture, poverty, and racism. The already fragile situation of refugees becomes worrying and challenged in the face of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic. Therefore, we aimed to describe the factors that can worsen the mental health of refugees. Method: The studies were identified in well-known international journals found in three electronic databases: PubMed, Scopus, and Embase. The data were cross-checked with information from the main international newspapers. Results: According to the literature, the difficulties faced by refugees with the COVID-19 pandemic are potentiated by the pandemic state. There are several risk factors common to coronavirus and psychiatric illnesses as overcrowding, disruption of sewage disposal, poor standards of hygiene, poor nutrition, negligible sanitation, lack of access to shelter, health care, public services, and safety. These associated with fear and uncertainty create a closed ground for psychological sickness and COVID-19 infection. Conclusions: There should be not only a social mobilization to contain the virus, but also a collective effort on behalf of the most vulnerable populations.