@article{ref1,
title="The role of psychological first aid to support public mental health in the COVID-19 pandemic",
journal="Curēus",
year="2020",
author="Shah, Kaushal and Bedi, Sukhmeet and Onyeaka, Henry and Singh, Romil and Chaudhari, Gaurav",
volume="12",
number="6",
pages="e8821-e8821",
abstract="Psychological first aid (PFA) is one of the vital tools in delivering psychological interventions to those who have undergone or experienced traumatic events. Traumatic experiences during calamities, outbreaks of infections, and war can induce a significant amount of stress in the absence of early and effective intervention provided by trained caregivers. The coronavirus pandemic has caused significant levels of fear as governments impose quarantine and lockdown to contain the infection. Countries around the globe have halted several social and economic operations to curb the spread of coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). However, panic, helplessness, and horror aided by the infection due to the lack of a definitive cure has exposed the population to significant mental distress, thus warranting psychological intervention.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="2168-8184",
doi="10.7759/cureus.8821",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.8821"
}