Effects of COVID-19 on traumatic stress and psychological health: A qualitative exploratory study

Abstract

The physical and mental health of the general people was seriously endangered by the advent of coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). The purpose of this study was to assess the psychological well-being of people during the pandemic using stressors related to COVID-19 that produce dread, obsessions, and anxiety, ultimately leading to a scenario of collective trauma. This study adopted a qualitative methodology that focuses on a thorough justification of the events. It made use of a focused ethnographic design, a kind of ethnography that gathers information about a particular social phenomenon in a specific cultural setting from a variety of sources. Statistics were gathered in the Pakistani province of Punjab city of Faisalabad. We used the purposive random selection strategy to pick our interlocutors. 321 in-depth interviews and three online focus groups were done by us (FGDs). Although qualitative data was sorted into themes for additional research analysis, quantitative data was run via Excel to produce frequency distribution. It was investigated how trauma stresses might cause emotional discomfort such as boredom, loneliness propensity, future anxiety, and financial instability. Social media's COVID-19-related impact on mental and psychological health was detrimental. Using the explorative study approach, all these trauma determinants are investigated.