Coronavirus: Mass Quarantine May Spark Irrational Fear, Anxiety, Stigma
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Mental health experts are warning of the potential deleterious psychological effects of the Chinese government’s response to the rapidly evolving coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak that originated in Wuhan, China.
China’s mandatory mass quarantine of millions of people in more than 10 cities will likely exacerbate public anxiety levels, G. James Rubin, PhD, senior lecturer in the psychology of emerging health risks, King’s College London, United Kingdom, and coauthor Simon Wessely, MD, professor of psychiatry, King’s College London, point out in an opinion piece published online January 24 in the BMJ.