The challenges ahead for patients with feeding and eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Open Access
The challenges ahead for patients with feeding and eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic Mohsen Khosravi Abstract The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) became a global pandemic only a few months after it emerged in China. Besides, this pandemic imposed adverse consequences on public health, particularly on the mental health status of individuals with serious mental illness. However, the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the patients with feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) are at this stage unclear. In this letter, the author seeks to acknowledge the risks of worsening FEDs during this uncertain period. Keywords: Coronavirus, Feeding and eating disorders, Pandemics, Patients
Main text A public health emergency may affect both individuals and communities. Individual health, well-being, and safety may be influenced due to feelings of confusion, emotional isolation, insecurity, and stigma. Furthermore, communities are affected due to the inevitable closure of schools and workplaces, the economic loss, in addition to the increased demands for medical equipment. These effects may be reflected in a variety of emotional reactions, e.g., distress or psychiatric disorders, as well as unhealthy behaviors, e.g., maladaptive eating behaviors, in both the healthcare professionals and the general population. Research has found that emotional distress is ubiquitous in affected populations. Indeed, this finding will be echoed in the affected populations in the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic [1]. Despite a lack of definitive studies to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health, survey research conducted in China has suggested moderate to severe adverse effects on the mental health in over half of participants [2]. Correspondence: [email protected] Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran
Furthermore, considering the effects of the previous major worldwide health disasters, this pandemic is expected to increases the individuals’ stress level and lead to an increased rate of depression and anxiety [3]. Furthermore, individuals who have a previous mental disorder are at higher risk of experiencing mental health status exacerbation owing to the current pandemics [2, 4]. Thus, this pandemic is expected to worsen the severity of the feeding and eating disorders (FEDs) symptomatology due to several reasons, some of which are discussed below: Food insecurity in the time of COVID-19
Food insecurity is defined as the food intake disruption or alteration of eating patterns caused by a shortage of money or other resources. Several factors, such as employment, income, ethnicity/race, and disability, affect food insecurity. Food insecurity risk is intensified by a shortage of money or lack money [5]. The COVID-19 pandemic can potentially aggravate FEDs and the associated mental health symptoms because of the intensified economic limitations resulting in food insecurity (that is, restricted
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