With uncertainty surrounding the outbreak deepening the economic, social and health care crisis, an army of therapists is helping people cope with the brutal psychological fallout. “People are experiencing very high levels of anxiety,” Sonya Lott, a Philadelphia-based psychologist who specializes in grief counseling, told the Agence France-Presse. “The only thing that we’ve experienced in America that’s come close to this pandemic is 9/11,” Lott said. There has also been an increase in the number of calls to suicide hotlines, though no statistics are available yet, added the psychotherapist, whose organization represents 32,000 mental health professionals. According to a poll released on Thursday (Friday in Manila) by Kaiser Family Foundation, the virus had affected the mental health of nearly half of the people in the United States.

Source: Manila Times April 03, 2020 16:29 UTC