Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health Law in the State of Qatar

Abstract

Accumulating evidence exploring the impact of the pandemic on mental health has been published as the Covid-19 pandemic has evolved and reflect how shock, anxiety, and fear of the early periods of the pandemic are giving way to depression and PTSD symptoms as the pandemic and its restrictions persist (Thombs et al., 2020; Vindegaard & Benros, 2020). The general findings have been those of increased psychiatric morbidity in general populations, psychiatric populations, and special groups like quarantined and isolated populations (Reagu et al., 2021; Salari, Hosseinian-Far, Jalali, et al., 2020). Social distancing among general populations and isolation/quarantine for infected cases has been the mainstay of containment in the absence of treatment (World Health Organization 2020, Center for Disease Control and prevention 2020). However, this has been challenging and variable across the globe and has been affected by economic needs, political ideologies, and sometimes the nature of the populations like patients in mental health units (International Monetary Fund 2020, McMichael, 2020).