Departments of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Anesthesiology, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, USA; and Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, UK
Eva Petkova
Departments of Population Health and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine; and Department of Clinical Research, Nathan Kline Institute of Psychiatric Research, USA
Departments of Cultural Psychiatry and Epidemiology, Centre for Psychiatry, Queen Mary University of London; and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist, East London NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Thomas G. Schulze
Institute of Psychiatric Phenomics and Genomics (IPPG), Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany; and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University, USA
The COVID-19 pandemic has stunned the global community with marked social and psychological ramifications. There are key challenges for psychiatry that require urgent attention to ensure mental health well-being for all – COVID-19-positive patients, healthcare professionals, first responders, people with psychiatric disorders and the general population. This editorial outlines some of these challenges and research questions, and serves as a preliminary framework of what needs to be addressed. Mental healthcare should be an integral component of healthcare policy and practice towards COVID-19. Collaborative efforts from psychiatric organisations and their members are required to maximise appropriate clinical and educational interventions while minimising stigma.
