Citation

Zhao Q. Front. Psychiatry 2022; 13: e1129979.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Frontiers Media)

DOI

10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1129979

PMID

36733414

PMCID

PMC9887279

Abstract

Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention in a Changing World (July 2021 to June 2022) was a special research project conducted during the global spread of COVID-19. Our project editors were concerned that individuals' mental wellness could be vulnerable due to the pandemic and other concurrent natural or man-made disasters (e.g., earthquakes and regional conflicts). Moreover, bereavement, unemployment, and economic recession due to these disasters could further build up emotional stress upon the public. Meanwhile, pandemic regulations administered in each community (e.g., lockdowns and social distancing measures) might further undermine social support. Consequently, the risk of suicidal ideation and behavior during these changing times could be concerning. This project aims to follow the above research concerns. In total, 14 studies were published via this research project, with dedications by 103 authors, 26 reviewers, and five editors. Five essential research questions were discussed among these researchers:

WHOM should we be concerned about?

In this project, researchers investigated mental health-related issues with people from aboriginal communities in Aotearoa/New Zealand (e.g., the Māori people; Pavlova et al.), Asian cultures (e.g., Indians; Ramesh et al.), and Western countries (e.g., Germans; Kohls et al.). Participants of this project covered children (e.g., Kohls et al.), adolescents (e.g., Li, Zhan et al.), young adults (e.g., Huang et al.), low-income cohorts (e.g., Kaniuka et al.), police officers (Hofmann et al.), and suicide prevention professionals (e.g., Roškar et al.). As Roškar et al. highlighted, even the professional knowledge of these suicide prevention professionals would not make them "immune" to mental illnesses. Ergo, mental health promotion and suicide prevention should be considered a global project, covering the welfare of a broad spectrum of populations...

Language: en

Keywords

COVID-19; suicide prevention; self-esteem; mental health promotion; mental vulnerability