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Cerena Arocha

Mr. Lay

English A2

5/20/22

Hospital Isolation Affecting Mental Health

Around the world, billions of people have been quarantined or are under lockdown due to

the COVID-19 pandemic. Quarantine, social isolation, lockdowns, and curfews are among the

preventive methods used around the world to limit the spread of infection. Despite public health

initiatives to curb the spread of COVID-19 infection, it has had a considerable influence on

mental health around the world. Although hospital isolation has an impact on the mental health

of youth, the lack of awareness to the government and society and the techniques are not used

effectively has contributed greatly to this issue. To nurture this issue, efforts and measures must

be taken to make this experience less painful for vulnerable young people.

Measures like quarantines and lockdowns are put in place for a legitimate reason: to

prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, they can have a variety of negative implications,

including bodily, psychological, social, and economic consequences.

“When we asked the patients to describe their feelings during hospital isolation, they

talked about the anxiety associated with knowing they could not leave the hospital, their

guilt for causing trouble to others, and their feelings of being stranded in the isolation

ward for an extended period. They described the psychological burdens in various ways,

but many felt pushed to the verge of mental collapse. During quarantine and hospital
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isolation, patients often experience feelings of panic, loneliness, anxiety, fear, depression,

stress, guilt, helplessness, anger, separation from relatives, loss of freedom, and boredom.

Infected patients in isolation can experience physical and mental stress” (Hsiao, 2021).

A prior study investigated the psychological impacts of SARS-quarantined people in Toronto,

Canada, and found that 28.9% of them shown symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

and 31.2 percent had depressive disorder.

Following the implementation of enforced lockdown measures to prevent the spread of

illness, the COVID-19 pandemic has scared the entire planet physically, psychologically,

emotionally, socially, and economically. To prevent suicide due to the COVID-19 pandemic,

local, regional, and national governments, in collaboration with mental health providers, must

quickly implement new mental health policies and increase the availability of mental health

services for everyone (people with COVID-19 infection, frontline workers, those in

quarantine/isolation, people with preexisting mental health issues, students, and older adults).

This article discusses what patients experienced during their period of isolation. It

specifically focused on a study done in Taiwan during the Covid-19 pandemic. Patients were

interviewed about the effect of hospital isolation and how it affects patients psychologically,

spiritually, and socially.

The study that is introduced to us in this article highlighted that hospital isolation during

the COVID-19 outbreak had a medical, psychological, social, and spiritual impact on patients.

“Besides, social isolation and loneliness can cause serious public health issues among people

whether young, middle-aged, or old, and there is a strong association between these and the

development of neurocognitive and mental health disorders as well as heart and autoimmune

diseases; social isolation and loneliness could create negative health outcomes, such as high
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blood pressure, heart diseases, disability, a decline of cognitive function, and depression”

(Ganesan, 2021).

Patients in the study recalled vividly their negative emotions, including fear concern about

spreading the virus to relatives and friends, social exclusion during the isolation, uncertainty

about progression of the disease during treatment, and disappointment when positive test results

meant they could not yet leave the isolation ward. As their stays in the isolation unit became

longer, so did their fear, boredom, and social separation. They feared the shame of being one of

the few (in comparison to many other nations) Taiwanese to have caught the illness.

This is an issue that is not talked about a lot. People do not realize that this is an issue

until they are in the hospital and experience it for themselves. Even though the rise of

hospitalized patients with Covid-19 has decreased, many are still struggling with hospital

isolation. I cannot imagine what long-term hospital patients must go through. Many are separated

from contacting their family and friends so that they all stay safe.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has had a major influence on people's

physical and mental health, and it is still a leading cause of mortality for many people

worldwide. Wide variety of public health measures (social isolation, quarantine, lockdowns, and

curfews) have been enforced by governments to limit the spread of coronavirus illness. In the

present COVID-19 pandemic, this paper supplies a review of risk factors that can lead to suicide

as well as various methods to avoid suicide.

Following the implementation of enforced lockdown measures to prevent the spread of

illness, the COVID-19 pandemic has scared the entire planet physically, psychologically,

emotionally, socially, and economically.

“Governments, media, the public, and individuals have an essential role to play to prevent

the COVID-19-social stigma against ethnicities, religions, and specific countries. To

prevent pandemic-recession-related suicide, mental health experts and researchers have to

raise awareness toward the governments and societies about an increasing unemployment

rate being a risk factor for suicide” (Ganesan, 2021).

Long-term social isolation and disconnection can have a negative influence on people's physical

and mental health, even if they are otherwise healthy. Individuals can try activity scheduling,

such as reading, listening to music, learning, watching interesting TV shows, regular exercise,

and learning a new language, instead of continuously watching live coverage of coronavirus-

related news, to avoid stress, anxiety, depression, and other serious mental health issues,

including suicidal ideas. Even though social distancing causes the preservation of physical space

between individuals, people can communicate with their family and friends via social media

programs such as WhatsApp, FaceTime, Viber, Skype, Zoom, and Facebook Messenger.

Furthermore, this research shows that those who are confined or isolated, as well as those

recuperating from coronavirus infection, should have access to other online telehealth counseling

services.

As COVID-19 spreads over the world, many people are quarantined or ostracized, which

has negative repercussions for young people's mental health. This fast review considers the

influence of quarantine on children's and teenagers' mental health and suggests ways to enhance

the psychological repercussions of seclusion. Acute stress disorder, adjustment disorder,

grieving, and post-traumatic stress disorder were the most prevalent diagnoses.

The effects of quarantine and seclusion on children and adolescents are not well

recognized.
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“Although children are vulnerable to environmental risks but statistics regarding

psychological impact of home confinement, quarantine and isolation in children and

adolescents are elusive and very few studies address this important aspect. Given the

evidence of adverse psychosocial impact, effective measures need to be in place to

mitigate the effects of home confinement on children and adolescents” (Imran, 2020).

Routines, social interactions, and friendships are all key components of a child's normal

psychological development. Being confined or secluded disrupts a child's or adolescent's normal

routines, making an already tough situation even more difficult for all children and adolescents,

especially those with special needs or mental issues. Since disease containment measures and

school closures related to the COVID-19 outbreak have become relevant to all affected countries

around the world, an urgent evidence synthesis is needed to help policymakers in understanding

the mental health outcomes of quarantine in children and adolescents.

Overall, this study shows that quarantine has a wide-ranging and considerable detrimental

influence on children's and teenagers' psychological well-being. In many circumstances,

quarantine is required to contain infections, hence efforts and measures must be done to make

this experience less painful for vulnerable young people. This can be accomplished through

open, age- and developmentally appropriate communication, supporting routines and minimizing

disruptions in education, promoting a healthy lifestyle, enhancing positive family relationships,

managing parental stress, and incorporating health promotion activities into the school

curriculum. These techniques may help to reduce the physical and mental health effects of

quarantine on children and adolescents.

When Nghiep Luu's son was born prematurely, he was inspired to use his love of origami

to help children. That is why, in May of last year, he embarked on a five-month journey to fold
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10,000 cranes in order to raise $10,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He said he was

inspired by the well-known story of Sadako Sasaki, a young Japanese girl who set a goal of

folding 1,000 origami cranes while undergoing leukemia treatment. According to a Japanese

legend, anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes will be granted a wish by the gods, and

Sadako's wish was to regain her full health. This is very similar to what our non-profit

organization is doing but we are not raising any money. This is an effective way to pass down a

legacy of Sadako’s story and the folding of origami cranes but instead creating it with your own

meaning and story.

Childhood cancer awareness month is September. Every day, 46 children in the United

States are diagnosed with cancer, with one out of every five children dying from the condition. In

the United States, it is predicted that 15,780 children and adolescents aged 0 to 19 years were

diagnosed with cancer in 2014, with over 2,000 dying from the condition. Joey's Wings is

displaying 2,000 origami cranes across the country to remember the 2,000 children in the United

States who are killed by cancer each year. Each origami crane is meticulously folded and strung

with beads and other handcrafted embellishments. 2,000 cranes will be presented as a work of art

in order to generate funds for childhood cancer research. They will be displayed in public places

such as museums, libraries, churches, grocery stores, restaurants, and businesses after

September. In Japan, the crane is one of the most mystical creatures, said to live for a thousand

years. It is a prayer and a wish for recovery, resulting in a powerful message of joy in the midst

of a challenging time. According to an ancient Japanese legend, anyone who folds a thousand

origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane.

Our project is similar to these organizations as we are collecting cranes and donating

them to hospitals. The issue that we are addressing is the negative effect that hospitalization has
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on children. When placed in hospitals for long durations of time, this can often lead to developed

feelings that are caused by being alone and intimidated. This issue of isolation is especially

prevalent throughout this COVID-19 pandemic. Such environments and internal feelings can

lead to severe anxiety and depression. Those who are interested in helping out our organization,

they may do so by donating origami paper or already-made origami cranes and kindhearted cards

that they have made themselves. There are many others who are working in this field as

counselors or therapists that can help ease people in these conditions. These may be helpful

resources that others can reach out to. However, many aren’t comfortable with discussing and

expressing how they feel to other people so with our project, we hope that this can be another

alternative that will also be of help to them.

For our solutionary project, called Handmade Hope, we believe that by providing this gift

of 1000+ cranes to children's hospitals, those children will be able to feel loved and

acknowledged. There are several charities that raise funds, but this is not always sufficient. We

must consider a person's condition as its whole. Humans need a sense of belonging and

connection. However, at times in our lives, this may be challenging. We hope that the receiver

will experience a sense of belonging to the community.

Works Cited

“Experience of Patients with COVID‐19 in Hospital Isolation in Taiwan.” Wiley Online Library,
John Wiley & Sons Australia, Dec. 2021,
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nhs.12878.
Ganesan, Balasankar et al. “Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak
Quarantine, Isolation, and Lockdown Policies on Mental Health and Suicide.” Frontiers in
psychiatry vol. 12 565190. 16 Apr. 2021,
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.565190/full
Imran, Nazish et al. “Psychological burden of quarantine in children and adolescents: A rapid
systematic review and proposed solutions.” Pakistan journal of medical sciences vol. 36,5
(2020): 1106-1116. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7372688/

“Awareness Campaign.” Joey's Wings - Flying Beyond Cancer!,

“Paper Cranes That Carry Hope.” St. Jude Children's Research Hospital,