COVID-19 and Psychology: People and Society in Times of Pandemic

Description

Already, the COVID-19 pandemic has left a deep mark on all levels of human activity and sentiment. As far as the best possible management of the situation is concerned, it is not only up to governments and experts in health systems, but ultimately up to each individual to act appropriately. Understanding the psychological background and the societal context is essential. This essential is also intended to make a contribution in the sense of joint and successful coping. This Springer essential is a translation of the original German 1st edition COVID-19 und Psychologie by John G. Haas, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2020. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically different from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors. What You Can Find in This essential Preface to the International Edition Acknowledgements Advice of Abu Jafar Ahmad Ibn Khatimah on Warding Off and Coping with the Plague (From the Year 1349)=-20pt Contents About the Author 1 Epidemics and Pandemics—Why They Occur and How They Are Combated 1.1 What is a Pandemic? 1.2 Why Do Epidemics and Pandemics Occur? 1.3 How Epidemics and Pandemics Are Combated 2 The Human Psyche – A Brief Consideration 2.1 The Human Being as a Biopsychosocial Unit 2.2 What is (Mental) Health? 2.3 How a Mental Disorder Develops and How It is Defined 2.4 How the Psyche Expresses Itself 3 Psychological Aspects of Epidemics and Pandemics 3.1 Man’s Fear of Infectious Diseases 3.2 Contagion from a Psychological Perspective 3.2.1 Social Contagion 3.2.2 Emotional Contagion 3.3 Defense from a Psychological Point of View 3.3.1 Defense from the Perspective of Evolutionary Psychology—The Behavioural Immune System 3.3.2 Defense from the Perspective of Psychoanalysis 3.3.3 The Biopsychosocial Model of Contagion and Defence 3.4 The Spectrum of Mental Disorders in the Context of Epidemics and Pandemics 3.5 Management of Mental Stress and Mental Disorders in the Context of COVID-19 3.6 Assessment of Own Psychological Well-Being 3.7 Resilience in Times of Epidemic and Pandemic 3.8 The Role of Anxiety and Fear 4 A Brief Psychohistory of Epidemics and Pandemics 4.1 Psychohistory of the Plague of Athens 4.2 Psychohistory of the Plague in the Middle Ages 4.3 Psychohistory of Epidemics and Pandemics in the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century 5 The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Human Psyche 5.1 The Disturbance Triad of the COVID-19 Pandemic 5.2 How Stress, Anxiety and Depression Develop During the COVID-19 Pandemic 5.3 Impact on the General Population 5.4 Impact of Nonpharmaceutical Interventions 5.4.1 Isolation and Quarantine - Effective but with Unclear Consequences 5.4.2 Social Distancing 5.4.3 Wearing of a Mouth-And-Nose-Guard (“Face Mask”) 5.4.4 The Paradox of Self-Defeating Prophecy in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic 5.5 Risk Factors for Mental Stress 5.6 Risk Groups 5.7 Resilience Factors in the Period of COVID-19 5.8 Resilience in the Post-Pandemic Phase 6 Social Aspects of the COVID-19 Pandemic 6.1 Alternative and Pseudo-Medical Recommendations 6.2 Loneliness 6.3 Rumors 6.4 Society and Popular Culture 6.5 Violence 6.5.1 Violence in Public Spaces 6.5.2 Family and Sexual Violence 6.6 Crime 6.7 Media Coverage 6.8 Panic Buying 6.9 Paranoid Thoughts 6.10 Responses to Measures to Contain COVID-19 6.10.1 Willingness to Comply with Measures 6.10.2 Criticism, Dissatisfaction and Resistance to Measures 6.11 Assigning Blame 6.12 Social Support and Cohesion 6.13 Stigmatisation 6.14 Suicide Attempts and Suicide 6.15 Conspiracy Theories 6.16 Insecurity 6.17 Perceived Social Consensus 6.18 Perceived Change in Living Conditions 6.19 Xenophobia and Racism 7 “Harmful Information”—Causes and Consequences of an Infodemic 7.1 What Promotes an Infodemic and Why it is Dangerous 7.2 Infodemiology—How to Address an Infodemic Situation 8 Coping Successfully with the COVID-19 Pandemic from a Psychological Perspective 8.1 The WHO Guide for Adults 8.2 The WHO Guide for Children and Adolescents 8.3 “Be Kind to Your Mind”—A Brief Guide by the CDC 8.4 Overall Societal Management of the COVID-19 Pandemic What You Learned f rom This essential Bibliography Read More Companion Website to the Book Index Index