Depression, anxiety and stress: psychological effects of social distancing in Mozambique

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic, detected in December 2019 in China, constitutes a serious crisis worldwide. Millions of individuals have experienced the psychological effects caused by social distancing, as it restricts contact between people as much as possible. Stress, considered as an emotional imbalance caused by the conflict between demands and responses to different situations; depression causes significant impacts on the independence, autonomy and sociability of the individual and anxiety related to the state of absolute fear that paralyzes the subject in an extraordinary way, form part of the psychological disorders.[1] This research aims to identify the levels of psychological disorders depression, anxiety and stress associated with social distancing and the possible psychological effects caused in Mozambique-Africa. A total of 176 individuals participated in the study: 79 males and 97 females; identified from a questionnaire prepared on the Google Form platform and disseminated online through social communication platforms WhatsApp, Facebook and email for 7 days. The results indicated mild and moderate negative psychological effects for depression and anxiety respectively. Anxiety levels showed mild to moderate symptoms. Stress, found levels of mild to moderate with a tendency to severe. Sudden changes in people's routines affect their adaptability to the new lifestyle. Psychological prevention and treatment interventions could help lessen the psychological impact caused by social distancing through further in-depth studies with larger populations.

[1] This research has not received funding.