THE EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON AGGRESSIVE MANIFESTATIONS AMONG PATIENTS WITH MENTAL DISORDERS

I. Untu, C. Scripcaru, B. D. Chirilă, R. Chiriţă, R. P. Dobrin, A. Boloş

Abstract: The Covid-19 pandemic has tremendously marked the psychosocial dynamic worldwide through the direct effects of the infection and the exposure to a series of information – some mere assumptions – regarding the impact and consequences of the pandemic. Therefore, especially in Europe, Australia, and America, there was an increase in the acute episodes of pre-existing psychiatric pathologies accompanied by aggressive manifestations and an increase in alcohol abuse, consecutively associating hetero-aggressiveness with medico-legal implications. The above have developed based on generalized anxiety, uncertainty, and negative anticipations. This paper aims to synthesize the literature and the studies carried out since the pandemic’s beginning regarding its impact on chronic psychiatric pathology or the onset of mental disorders triggered by the various pressures exercised by the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus. Thus, our goal is to configure multiple premises for developing primary, secondary, and tertiary preventative means applicable even to the reality that Romanian society faces in this context
Keywords: Covid-19 pandemic, aggressiveness, mental disorders, alcohol abuse, anxiety.