Source avec lien : JAMA, , 11/20/2020. 10.1001/jama.2020.21753
Ce point de vue résume les éléments qui suggèrent que, contre toute attente, les personnes âgées en tant que groupe pourraient être plus résistantes à l’anxiété, à la dépression et aux troubles de santé mentale liés au stress caractéristiques des populations plus jeunes pendant la phase initiale de la pandémie de COVID-19.
As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) began to spread in the US in early 2020, older adults experienced disproportionately greater adverse effects from the pandemic including more severe complications, higher mortality, concerns about disruptions to their daily routines and access to care, difficulty in adapting to technologies like telemedicine, and concerns that isolation would exacerbate existing mental health conditions. Older adults tend to have lower stress reactivity, and in general, better emotional regulation and well-being than younger adults, but given the scale and magnitude of the pandemic, there was concern about a mental health crisis among older adults. The concern pertained to older adults both at home and in residential care facilities, where contact with friends, family, and caregivers became limited. The early data suggest a much more nuanced picture. This Viewpoint summarizes evidence suggesting that, counter to expectation, older adults as a group may be more resilient to the anxiety, depression, and stress-related mental health disorders characteristic of younger populations during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.