COVID 19 and Stress

Types of Stress People Experience Due to COVID-19
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Course Code and Name
Professor’s Name
Date
Types of Stress People Experience Due to COVID-19
Stress is a normal human response that individuals experience when they perceive potential threats or real uncertainties in their lives. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused fear to people since it is a significant threat to humanity. The virus originated from Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and started to spread locally and internationally. Today, coronavirus has reached almost every corner of the globe and has led to the infection of about 175,184,219 individuals and the death of approximately 3,777,314 people (Worldometer, 2021). As such, many individuals are experiencing various types of stresses that emanate from the fear of contracting the disease, working from home, the lack of physical contact or relationship with family members and friends, temporary unemployment, school closure, and home-schooling.
The coronavirus pandemic has significant effects on people's lives. In particular, it has interrupted individuals' daily activities, and some people have lost their jobs and livelihoods. The government implemented various regulations, such as keeping social distance, quarantine for infected individuals, and the closure of schools, which has affected people adversely. Although individuals adhere to these rules, many of them encounter numerous stressful challenges that are overwhelming to manage (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). For example, the closure of the learning institutions has caused temporary leaves to educators and other workers, which means that these people are likely to face financial-related stress. Besides, when children are sent home, and their parents are not working, it becomes challenging to provide necessities for them, which is another type of stress associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Salari et al. (2020) depict that the COVID-19 pandemic has major impacts on public mental health. Researchers found the prevalence of stress during this time the world is fighting against the coronavirus pandemic to be 29.6% in five studies that had a sample size of 9,074 individuals (Salari et al., 2020). Results were obtained by using the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) instrument. Specifically, many people experience the stress of contracting the disease at the workplace or other places with public gatherings. Coronavirus is highly spreading, and recent studies have shown that the disease is airborne. That is why individuals are encouraged to wear face masks, wash or sanitize their hands regularly, and keep social distance. The new strain of COVID-19 causes severe illnesses, such as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) (Salari et al., 2020). As a result, people are stressed when it comes to the prevention of contracting the disease.
The primary stressors that numerous Chinese college students are experiencing include the fear of contagion, academic workload, and separation from school. When the Chinese government closed the learning institutions during the first and second waves of the coronavirus pan...