The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Anxiety of Mothers with Children in Intensive Care

Berna Alay^*
*Correspondence: Berna Alay, Department of Pediatrics, Kastamonu University Faculty of Medicine, Kastamonu, Turkey, Email:

Keywords

Anxiety • Mothers • Pediatric intensive care units

Introduction

Situations including conflict, crises, high strain and natural disasters might increase the risk of psychological malaise. Weak people are more susceptible to the profound pressure associated with severe and deadly infections like the coronavirus, which can cause heightened pressure reactions, anguish, self-destruction and even madness. Mental illnesses including anxiety and discouragement have increased in the Coronavirus pandemic, a catastrophe with 245.373.039 confirmed cases and 4.979.421 worldwide fatalities as of October 2021. The emotional health of mothers has an influence on the physical, mental and mental development of children [1].

Description

However, these evaluations were often conducted with expectant women or new mothers. In general, there aren't many tests looking at parents' brains who have children older than infants during the epidemic. Additionally, mothers of children who require more care have reported feeling increased anxiety during the coronavirus epidemic. Relatives' lives might alter unexpectedly as a result of a child's illness and hospitalisation [2]. The parents may feel anxious due to the child's increased care requirements, potential financial difficulties caused by the family's healthcare expenses and restrictions on the members of the family's daily routines. The fear of infecting their children with the illness and the potential negative effects of the illness on the mothers of these children, the fear of receiving less friendly assistance due to confinement procedures and the feeling of dread toward not having the option to receive adequate wellbeing support due to the disproportionate weight in medical services groups may all negatively affect the mothers' mental wellbeing.

Given all of these factors, it was thought that a study on the mothers of children treated in the emergency room during the pandemic should be conducted. Since intensive care units are divided into neonatal and paediatric categories and newborn mothers have a disproportionately high number of exams compared to other mothers. This study hoped to advance mental health strategies, especially for these high-risk groups in calamity situations, by analysing the psychological state of mothers whose children were hospitalised during the Coronavirus pandemic, particularly where risk factors are higher like paediatric escalated care units [3].

The rate of bothersome side effects (45%) among mothers of children admitted to the emergency room during this time period demonstrated how serious the problem was. Moms may be more susceptible to burdensome side effects, especially in a few particular situations. Kids with the coronavirus experience milder symptoms and a milder course of illness compared to adults. However, children with fundamental medical conditions and newborns under the age of one are more likely to have significant infection [4]. These factors may have negatively influenced the mental health of parents of children who needed more intensive care. The strange environment and strange equipment in the PICU, as well as the beautiful lighting, scents, a sleeping disturbance, the presence of a significant clinical event that jeopardises the child's life and observing intrusive activities on their child are sources of stress for parents. In addition, conditions like worry about illness, financial stress, rapid lifestyle changes and the closure of schools due to the Coronavirus pandemic are important pressure factors for parents' psychological wellbeing. Additionally, persons exposed to such stresses have a higher risk of developing burdensome side effects [5].

Due to both financial and medical issues, patients' unease side effects during the coronavirus epidemic increased. A new and potentially hazardous infectious sickness, social isolation and a sense of impending shame all put pressure on patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. While the majority of people are able to cope with these pressures, some people have mental health issues, such as post-horrible pressure issue, wretchedness and anxiousness. Guardians who fought the epidemic were shown to have heightened levels of misery in a planned survey and meta-examination. Therefore, in addition to all of the factors affecting mothers' mental health, it is crucial to take into account the impact of mothers' exposure to the odd environment of clinics during the pandemic on their emotional wellbeing. Given the intensified care environment, it was expected that patient families' anxiety would rise. In any event, it was astonishing to see that mothers with coronavirus had significantly greater levels of anxiety than mothers without.

42% of participants in a study involving 402 individuals who had the coronavirus experienced uncomfortable side effects. Extremely uneasy side effects were discovered in all individuals hospitalised for Coronavirus in another research. The findings of our research provide support to these inquiries. This can be explained by the way those provoking cycles generate mental side effects, although it very well may be attributed to factors like quarantine, fear of dying and dread of losing loved ones. The anxiety and depression levels of parents of children with neurological or neurodevelopmental problems are significant. The possibility that mothers of children admitted in the PICU due to seizures need mental support should not be discounted.

According to the analysis, parents' degrees of unease increased as both their children's and their own ages became older. They couldn't focus on anything in the literature that looked at this connection. In any event, it has been demonstrated that anxiety side effects depend on the moms' stress levels throughout the child's early years and occur as the child's age increases. Children at the emergency room may experience unease and mothers experience anxiety as a result of being alert to these symptoms. However, as they become older, children's growing consciousness at the emergency room can be a strange or shocking environment and as they become more vocal, their mothers' anxiety may increase. Future tests will be able to explain this twofold influence.

Another discovery is that mothers who have a history of the coronavirus experience less severe side effects. For those without Coronavirus, anxiety over the results might make them depressed. The loss of susceptibility can lessen the anxiety of those who have experienced Coronavirus in their family members. The Covid Nervousness levels were greater in working moms than in non-working moms for several reasons, such as the risk of contamination in the workplace, the potential for isolation and confusions that may develop in the case of probable pollution.

Conclusion

The coronavirus pandemic is an emergency that undermines established social, economic and moral norms and produces stress, vulnerability and dread. High-risk groups including children, the elderly, women, healthcare workers, patients with lengthy hospital stays and their families should be targeted due to the possibility that the coronavirus pandemic will have psychological effects like shock, forswearing, tension, stress and stress. For these meetings, it is crucial to reduce stress and emergency situations for the executives, practise empathy and mindfulness, adjust resources and strengthen social support systems. Families of children with certain diagnoses may be more likely to experience anxiety due to novel, contagious and little understood diseases like the coronavirus.

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