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Erica Smith

Professor De Gruy

ENG.1201

December 12, 2021

National Alliance on Mental Illness [Figure 1]

The Research Essay: "Is Mental Illness Over Diagnosed during these Unprecedented Times?"

We have all struggled with our mental health from these unknown times. Mental illness

becomes a stigma we do not talk about. This creates issues for the general population in a

pandemic being over diagnosed with a mental illness, and a cocktail of medication. Instead of

treating the problem, mental illness is becoming a statistic during the unprecedented times.

Mental health was a stigma even before the pandemic. Because the unknown is constant, anxiety

is high. As I collected my evidence, many others are asking the question, “Is mental illness over

diagnosed during these unprecedented times?”

Covid-19, the corona virus whatever you want to call it. This is a severe transmissional

respiratory disease. COVID-19 can also affect central nervous system function. This disease

disrupted many people's lives. Financially, emotionally, and physically. Some people have died

from the virus, and the numbers keep increasing. The virus is often lethal, and in 2020 hit the

pandemic criteria.

These times are unknown. Young people are deprived of financial security. They are also

deprived of self-replenishment. This is critical to mental health. It can cause misdiagnosis of

mental illnesses. Doctors are quick to diagnose and prescribe an antidepressant. Instead of fixing

the system and helping people get through life without hoops to jump through. These authors in

this essay will describe the many ways, Covid has affected the mental health of many

Americans. I believe mental illness is described as a stigma, but also doctors are ready to

diagnose illnesses to prescribe medication for the money. This essay also explains this.

In this essay, I will explore the many reasons mental illness is being over diagnosed in

this pandemic. The priority is not the person’s issues from the unknown era of the pandemic. The

priority is to push medication and diagnose. This creates an increase of the stigma of mental

illness. Every single American has been affected by the pandemic, in diverse ways. From people

dealing with stressful situations, to the elderly in isolation. This causes depression, anxiety, and

death, this is from a temporary unknown of rules set in place to scare us to stay home. This is

unusual and most people have not experienced a pandemic like this. This is hard on many

different people during these times.

The impact of Covid has hit many and maybe every home all around the world in

separate ways. This is what Andrew Bryne said in May 2021 on the Wiley Clinical Club website.

This is an article in the Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry category of the website. This
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website is very credible. Bryne noted that, “Throughout the pandemic there has been evidence of

increased levels of relapse in people with pre-existing mental health conditions. There have also

been increased mental health problems in people with no previous mental health disorders.” [1]

It is always said that “The pandemic negatively impacted on mental health education,

research and training, all embedded in mental health services.” [1] This shows the impact covid

has on mental health, and people’s lives. Bryne explains the prolonged affect Covid will have on

us. Bryne said, “By October 2020, there were 38 million confirmed cases and 1.1 million

confirmed deaths worldwide, coinciding with a second COVID-19 peak. By February 2021,

there were 130 million cases and 2.2 million deaths.1 “This demonstrates the full impact of the

pandemic. Bryne describes the pandemic from start to finish, and we are far from finished with

this pandemic.

Everyone is aware of the issues of the elderly in isolation from their families and friends.

Covid is causing this isolation from loved ones in nursing homes. This may do more harm than

good. The studies show that there are risk factors produced from this in the article in The

International Geriatric Psychology authored by Shanquan Chen and others from the facility. “We

conducted a retrospective cohort study to identify which previously documented factors were

associated with excess death during the lockdown, beyond those attributed to confirmed COVID-

19,” this is said by Chen in the article. This shows the effect on mental health. Covid

consequences are causing death, for people with or without mental illness. The pandemic affects

so many people in so many ways. This does not mean they have a mental illness; they may have

a stressful situation like many other Americans, during these unprecedented times.

CNN reported by Katti Gray, discussed the topic of mental illness during the Covid-19

pandemic. CNN is a reliable, well-known news station. “Critics say many factors have
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contributed to the "over-medicalizing" and over-diagnosis of mental illness.” demonstrated in

figure one. The author Katti Gray stated, “All the good epidemiological studies unfortunately

show that one in five people have a psychological disorder. … They’re prevalent, they’re just all

over the place, and that is very disturbing to some people,” said Dr. Carl Bell, a Chicago

psychiatrist and University of Illinois School of Medicine director of public health and

community psychiatry.” [11] The stigma of mental illness is real. Mental illness is real, and in

this article, it portrays the bad side of medication, and overdiagnosis patients during these

unknown times plus our daily stress. In this article a woman, who was suffering a loss of her

child, was pushed to take medication. Instead of therapy, or healthy coping mechanisms.

“Critics say many factors have contributed to the "over-medicalizing" and over-diagnosis of mental illness.” [Figure 1 ]

Ian Freckelton points out the impact of over diagnosing in Psychiatry, in the book

Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law. This shows that psychiatrists may be more worried about the

money rather than the well-being of people. This is human nature, to be selfish at times. During

these times, we need doctors to take every case seriously. If they do not this may cause death,

more death than the numbers from covid deaths.

In Joshua Gordon’s article from the National Institute of Mental Health in the first

sentence, he says,” It has been just over a year now since the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

struck the United States full force.” This proves my point of view of the enormous impact of

COVID. The National Institute is researching to find prevention, recovery, and cure people

affected by this pandemic. This affects so many Americans mental health, this facility is working

to change this. This facility is a great resource to fix the issue of over diagnosing and preventing

the issue. Even the Centers of Diseases Control (CDC) are concerned about this issue. Gordon

stated, “According to one CDC (Centers for Disease Control) report, which surveyed adults

across the U.S. in late June of 2020, 31% of respondents reported symptoms of anxiety or

depression, 13% reported having started or increased substance use, 26% reported stress-related

symptoms, and 11% reported having serious thoughts of suicide in the past 30 days.” This is a

massive impact on Americans during these unprecedented times presented by the CDC.

Joel Paris is a Canadian Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University. Paris said,

“Diagnoses are made rapidly – and often inaccurately. Instead of listening, and asking about

current circumstances, psychiatrists focus on a checklist of symptoms, a kind of parody of the

criteria listed in the DSM manual. Based on the answers to these questions, prescriptions will be

written for almost every problem – and ‘adjusted’ every time a patient comes in feeling

distressed.” [325] Medication is being prescribed often, and mental illness is being diagnosed

rapidly as well. “Paris examines prominent examples of overused diagnoses including major

depressive disorder, ADHD, bipolar-II disorders, autism spectrum disorders, and PTSD. This

new edition expands on Dr. Paris' argument and offers a new section on the link between

aggressive psychopharmacology and current diagnostic practices, as well as on transdiagnostic

approaches to classification of mental disorders.” said by Paris.

The next source shows the worldwide effects of Covid-19. This is written by Larissa LC

Louie, Wai-Chi Chan, and Calvin PW Cheng, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong

Kong, Hong Kong. In the introduction, the authors stated, “During a pandemic, people may

exhibit traumatic stress symptoms such as having nightmares and intrusive thoughts.7 Higher

stress scores from life events along with higher psychological distress are predictors of suicidal

risk, and level of stress has a moderate association with suicidal ideation.” [2] This article

focuses on the pandemic and the relation to suicidal ideation, and intrusive thoughts. These

people who suffer from these defects need to be mentally treated.

Even our children are not safe. In the past 50 years there has been an increase in

misdiagnoses and mental disorders in children, Eva Mertan the author explains. On the website,

BMC, the part of spring Nature on the article discussing the overdiagnoses of mental disorders in

children and adolescents. It is said that “To avoid misdiagnosis, standardized procedures as well

as continued education of diagnosticians working with children and adolescents suffering from a

mental disorder are needed.” It is also stated, “The World Health Report published 2001 by the

World Health Organization [13] showed that many countries lack sufficient mental health

resources and sometimes mental health policy altogether. Although underdiagnosis represents a

serious problem, with children and adolescents not getting the help they need, this paper focuses

on the overdiagnosis of mental disorders.” Mertan continues to compare the issues between

underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis in young people, and children. This has been going on for 50

years and continues.

In the UpToDate article by Murray B Stein, he explains the impact on psychiatric

illnesses caused by Covid-19. This is the most up-to-date website, during these times. It is said

by Murray, “In a March 2020 online survey of a nationally representative sample in the United
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States (n >1000), 36 percent of Americans felt that the new coronavirus pandemic was having a

serious impact on their mental health [18].” This effects the healthcare workers, adults, and

patients with a positive Covid-19 test. It is discussed that many people from these categories

suffer from anxiety and depression. Covid-19 also adversely affects patients with earlier mental

health issues. The patients with Covid-19 produce psychiatric symptoms like impaired memory

and attention, insomnia, depression, anxiety, confusion, and mood swings are to be expected.

Healthcare workers who take care of these patients can also suffer from insomnia, traumatic

distress, and PTSD. This can be contributed to being able to avoid the risk factors of the

regulations of handwashing, protective gear, and social distancing. This strengthens my

argument that many people are affected by this pandemic. This is increasing mental illness.

In the article from a public media station called NPR authored by Laurel Wamsley, 1 in 5

diagnosed with Covid-19 is diagnosed with anxiety, depression or insomnia in the first three

months presented in the first paragraph. The University of Oxford researched a study on 69.8

million patients with 62,000 of those patients being diagnosed with Covid-19. Wamsley stated,

“The study found that the relationship between mental illness and COVID-19 is actually

bidirectional: People with psychiatric diagnosis were about 65% more likely to be diagnosed

with COVID-19 than people without.” [7] Lauri Pasch a clinical psychologist at the University

of California states, "We're seeing a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear, a lot of sadness, a lot of sense of

isolation.” The pandemic is affecting the world more than the leaders want to help. Research is

being conducted to ensure that records are being recorded, and a decrease in Covid-19 numbers

in the future.

Counterarguments are mental illness is rising throughout the US. It is becoming less of a

stigma, and more people taking care of their mental health. Supplying individual therapy, and
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group therapy to your schedule could be beneficial. Medication is a quick fix not a long-term fix

for some. People may discover their mental illness during the time spent at home during the

pandemic. This gave many people time to reflect, and slowdown from the busy lifestyle. At some

point we need to recognize that the financial anxiety people are living through is not normal. The

unknown circumstances, and the death from the pandemic is not normal. This affects mental

health enormously. But this does not mean this it is a mental illness to be treated.

In conclusion, mental illness is over diagnosed. People are getting medication prescribed

just by describing a few symptoms. These feelings may not last if people with mental illness.

People are still suffering from the effects of the pandemic. Regular people are anxious, and

depressed. As a person with mental illness, I feel like I would benefit from therapy all day. Some

people with mental illness may agree, life is hard. The pandemic makes situations harder. Maybe

before taking a doctor’s advice, look for a second opinion. Mental illness, and mental health is a

stigma. These findings help people be aware of the severity of mental health and mental illness

to live a fulfilled life.

Works Cited

Byrne, Andrew, et al. “Impact of the COVID ‐19 Pandemic – a Mental Health Service

Perspective.” Progress in Neurology and Psychiatry, vol. 25, no. 2, Apr. 2021, p. 27,

10.1002/pnp.708.

Chen, S., Jones, P. B., Underwood, B. R., Fernandez-Egea, E., Qin, P., Lewis, J. R., &

Cardinal, R. N. (2021). Risk factors for excess deaths during lockdown among older users of

secondary care mental health services without confirmed COVID-19: A retrospective cohort

study. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 36(12), 1899.

https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5610

CNN, Katti Gray and Special to. “Are We Over-Diagnosing Mental Illness?” CNN, 16

Mar. 2013, www.cnn.com/2013/03/16/health/mental-illness-overdiagnosis/index.html. Accessed

5 Nov. 2021.

Freckelton, Ian. “Overdiagnosis in Psychiatry: How Modern Psychiatry Lost Its Way

While Creating a Diagnosis for Almost All of Life’s Misfortunes, by Paris Joel.” Psychiatry,

Psychology, and Law, vol. 25, no. 2, 15 May 2018, pp. 325–327,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6818431/, 10.1080/13218719.2018.1463588.
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Gordon, Joshua. “NIMH» One Year In: COVID-19 and Mental Health.”

Www.nimh.nih.gov, 9 Apr. 2021, www.nimh.nih.gov/about/director/messages/2021/one-year-in-

covid-19-and-mental-health.

Liu, Xuerong, et al. “Public Mental Health Problems during COVID-19 Pandemic: A

Large-Scale Meta-Analysis of the Evidence.” Translational Psychiatry, vol. 11, no. 1, June 2021,

10.1038/s41398-021-01501-9.

Louie, L. L. C., Chan, W. C., & Cheng, C. P. W. (2021). Suicidal Risk in Older Patients

with Depression During COVID-19 Pandemic: a Case-Control Study. East Asian Archives of

Psychiatry, 31(1), 3–8. https://doi.org/10.12809/eaap2055

Mental health conditions seen in childhood. NAMI. (n.d.). Retrieved November 24, 2021,

from https://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/October-2019/Mental-Health-Conditions-Seen-

in-Childhood.

Merten, Eva Charlotte, et al. “Overdiagnosis of Mental Disorders in Children and

Adolescents (in Developed Countries).” Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health,

vol. 11, no. 1, 17 Jan. 2017, 10.1186/s13034-016-0140-5.

“UpToDate.” Www.uptodate.com, www.uptodate.com/contents/covid-19-psychiatric-

illness. Accessed 5 Nov. 2021.

Wamsley, Laurel. “After COVID Diagnosis, Nearly 1 in 5 Are Diagnosed with Mental

Disorder.” NPR.org, 11 Nov. 2020, www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-

updates/2020/11/11/933964994/after-covid-diagnosis-nearly-1-in-5-are-diagnosed-with-mental-

disorder.