Psychological Effect of Covid-19 on Persons Living with Disabilities: An Empirical Study Perspective from South Africa
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic, in the first half-year of its existence, has impacted the lives of most people on Earth in one way or another. It is the first truly global pandemic in modern times and each of us has been forced to grapple with its effects, both individually and collectively. Several recently published articles have documented the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on different target populations along with available and acceptable modalities for preventing and treating these problems/disorders. Emerging research on COVID-19 shows that the coronavirus pandemic has increased psychological distress both in the general population and among high-risk groups. Behaviors such as physical distancing, as well as their social and economic impacts, are worsening mental health consequences. Research on the psychological impact of mass trauma. For persons with physical disabilities, the ability to achieve economic security and independence has very often been a goal kept out of reach by a variety of societal assumptions about their ability or inability to reliably fulfill professional requirements, their perceived increased rate of health-related absences or a host of other preconceptions. Persons living with disabilities may have a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and increased complications associated with additional barriers to respect social distancing measures and lockdowns which push them into depression then psychological problems. The study was literature based which sought to examine the psychological effect of Covid-19 on persons living with disabilities in South Africa. The study found that The study further fond that many people with disabilities often already suffer from social isolation and the panic and measures surrounding the preventative measures of COVID-19 can increase that sense of isolation. The study concluded that having a disability does not increase, by itself, a person’s chances of contracting COVID-19. Pandemic related restrictions on services that people with disabilities rely on can be contributing factors in increasing their risks of contracting the virus or succumbing to other illnesses based on the lack of access to healthcare and programs for their pre-existing conditions which can then lead them into depression. The study hence recommends that People with disability should seek the counselling and psychosocial support they may need from appropriately trained health care professionals and also community-based lay and peer counsellors, on their own or with the support of family, friends, neighbors or caregivers.
Keywords: Psychological, Effect, Covid-19, Disabilities, South Africa
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