Abstract

Australia looks to be one of those lucky countries that adopted an early public health response limiting community transmission of COVID-19 and avoiding the levels of acute hospitalization and fatality seen in other settings. Yet the pandemic came on the back of the largest bushfire season the country had seen which itself followed a sequence of climatic disasters involving drought, cyclones and floods. The social and economic impact of the COVID-19 response has been substantial with widespread loss of employment, social dislocation and health fears sparked across the nation. Findings from risk modeling and population surveillance provide preliminary evidence of increased burden of psychological distress, morbidity and risk of suicide resulting from the current crisis. We also highlight the mental health risk that may arise from increased sedentary behavior with the introduction of lockdown and physical distancing measures. We also outline the potently valuable role of drawing on salutogenic models including resilience and posttraumatic growth research for individual and broader community level need.

摘要

澳大利亚似乎是那些通过早期公共卫生应对措施来限制COVID-19在社区中传播并避免在其他情况下出现的急性住院和致死水平的幸运国家之一。然而，这种流行病是在该国经历的最大森林大火季节之后发生的，而该国本身是在一系列干旱，飓风和洪水等气候灾难之后发生的。COVID-19响应对社会和经济的影响是巨大的，在全国各地引发了广泛的失业，社会流离失所和对健康的担忧。风险建模和人口监测的发现为当前危机造成的心理困扰，发病率和自杀风险增加提供了初步证据。我们还重点介绍了由于采用锁定措施和身体疏远措施而增加的久坐行为可能引起的精神健康风险。我们还概述了利用有益健康的模型（包括针对个体和更广泛的社区级别的需求的复原力和创伤后增长研究）的潜在宝贵作用。