The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on eating disorders and their treatment: an integrative literature review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v10i10.19015Keywords:
Eating and Feeding Disorders; Mental Health; COVID-19; Coronavirus.Abstract
The context of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 has generated profound changes in our living conditions and the way we interact, with an expressive potential impact on mental health, especially individuals with pre-existing mental disorders, including eating disorders. Thus, the aim was to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic can impact the development, maintenance and treatment of eating disorders. Adopting a qualitative approach and a descriptive perspective, an integrative literature review was carried out by searching the LILACS, PUBMED and the SciELO electronic library databases. Intervention studies published since 2020 onwards and which related eating disorders to the COVID-19 pandemic were included. Fourteen studies were selected, analyzing the categorization in thematic axes. The results show that situational factors associated with the COVID-19 pandemic can significantly influence the precipitation of eating disorders, as well as the worsening of general and specific psychopathology, despite the great variability identified between studies. Furthermore, they can exacerbate barriers to accessing health care. The data presented can be useful in building possible ways to support the treatment of individuals with eating disorders and show the size of the challenge faced in carrying out treatments that associate the severity of eating disorders with a reality that leads to the deterioration of mental health of Brazilians on a daily basis.
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Copyright (c) 2021 Carolina de Oliveira Coutinho; Thamires Monteiro Laranjeira Mota; Larissa Pereira Santos; Thainá Santana da Silva; Thais Nascimento Conde; Alessandra da Rocha Pinheiro Mulder; Cristiane Marques Seixas
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