08/25/2020 - 11:31
- Clarín.com
- Good Life
Although health professionals have advised against it, for years, before the appearance of symptoms, discomforts or even the results of a study, many people turn to Google to evacuate doubts. Therefore, a team of researchers from the University of California (UCLA), in the United States, specialized in monitoring the health needs of the public focused on the analysis of these records and found evidence of a record of possible anxiety attacks or panic over the coronavirus pandemic and its consequences.
The researchers focused on anxiety attacks because they are a common mental health problem, can lead to other mental health problems such as depression, are triggered by external stressors, and (especially relevant during a pandemic) are socially contagious .
The research team analyzed Google searches that mentioned "panic attack" or "anxiety attack" that emerged from the United States from January 2004 to May 9, 2020 . These included queries such as "Am I having a panic attack?", "Anxiety attack signs or anxiety attack symptoms." The results of the work were published in the journal JAMA.
Assessing trends after President Donald Trump first declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020 to assess the impact of Covid-19, the team found that searches related to severe acute anxiety reached record levels .
The largest increases in inquiries occurred between March 16, 2020 and April 14, 2020, with a cumulative increase of 17%. These increases coincided with the deployment of the national social distancing guidelines (March 16) and their extension (March 29), when the United States surpassed China with the majority of reported cases (March 26), when health authorities they recommended face masks (April 3) and when the United States surpassed Italy in most deaths (April 11). Queries returned to typical levels on April 15, 2020 until the end of the study.
"In practical terms, during the first 58 days of the COVID-19 pandemic it is estimated that there were a total of 3.4 million searches related to severe acute anxiety in the United States," said Dr. Benjamin Althouse, senior scientist at the Institute. Disease Modeling - In fact, searches on anxiety and panic attacks were the highest in more than 16 years of historical search data. "
"The pandemic and our public health response, while justified on the basis of preliminary evidence, could have many health impactsunintentional and collateral . Our results provide one of the first insights into understanding these impacts, "says Eric C. Leas, assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at the University of California San Diego and a co-author of the study.
Many specialists are increasingly concerned about the widespread effects that the Covid-19 pandemic may have on mental health, but assessing these risks is difficult without data.
Shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest pain, and an intense feeling of fear are symptoms of a panic attack.
In that sense, Dr. John W. Ayers, director of the research, states that "traditional public health surveillance lacks the agility to provide information on demand. As a result, when public leaders need real-time data to inform their responses to Covid-19 mental health burdens, all that can be gathered is theoretical speculation. "
The study was conducted in coordination with Dr. Alicia Nobles, also from the Center for Data Driven Health at the Qualcomm Institute at UCLA and in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University, Barnard College, and the Institute for Disease Modeling.
"A panic attack should not be taken lightly , as it can lead someone to the emergency room with shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain and an intense sense of fear," adds Dr. Ayers. they certainly justify the need to increase mental health services. "
"The value of follow-up visits goes beyond acute anxiety," says Dr. Mark Dredze, John C. Malone associate professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University and co-author of the study. For example, during the pandemic from Covid-19, we detected for the first time spikes in the purchase of unproven therapies and in the purchase of weapons using similar methods, and these may extend further to public and mental health issues. "
"It can take years to fully understand the social consequences of COVID-19. Over time, we may find that many more comprehensive services will be needed to respond to other collateral impacts, and our rapid data-driven approach could be used to focus and prioritize responses to those impacts, "adds Adam Poliak, a co-author of the study.
"In theory, decision makers could track searches for hundreds of mental health problems, identify the subset that has the highest volume, and direct resources to meet those needs. As political leaders debate where to spend health resources to address the mental health burdens of Covid-19, timely empirical evidence like the one we provide can ensure that limited resources are allocated to the most extreme needs, "concluded Nobles.
Symptoms of Anxiety Attack
"Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders often have intense, excessive, and persistent worries and fears about everyday situations. Repeated episodes often occur in anxiety disorders. from sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that peak in a matter of minutes (panic attacks), "explains an article from the Mayo Clinic.
The most common signs and symptoms of anxiety include the following:
✔ Feeling of nervousness, agitation or tension
✔ Feeling of imminent danger, panic or catastrophe
✔ Increased heart rate
✔ Accelerated breathing (hyperventilation)
✔ Sweating
✔ Tremors
✔ Feeling weak or tired
✔ Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than current concern
✔Have trouble falling asleep
✔ Suffering from gastrointestinal problems
✔Have difficulties controlling worries
✔Have the need to avoid situations that generate anxiety
Panic attack
Meanwhile, a panic attack involves repeated episodes of sudden feelings of anxiety and intense fear or terror that peak in minutes. There may be feelings of impending catastrophe, shortness of breath, chest pain, or a fast, pounding or fluttering heartbeat (heart palpitations). These panic attacks can cause the person to worry that they will happen again or to avoid situations in which they have happened.