Editorial: Assessing and evaluating the psychosocial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on anxiety and stress: perspectives from the Indian sub-continent

<p dir="ltr">The world has started healing from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It has affected the mental well-being of people all over the world and stressed the mental healthcare delivery system significantly in a variety of ways. The psychological issues associated with Covid-19 were significant and there was high perceived need for mental healthcare by general public during the initial phase of pandemic, when the information and understanding about Covid-19 was poor (<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1389515/full#B1" target="_blank">1</a>). Across the pandemic there is exponential growth in research evidences regarding the association of psychological issues with Covid-19 pandemic. One recent umbrella review identified that the prevalence of anxiety symptoms varied from 24.4% in general populations to 41.1% for vulnerable groups, depression varied from 22.9% in general populations to 32.5% for vulnerable groups, and stress-related symptoms was 39.1% (<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1389515/full#B2" target="_blank">2</a>). High-income countries with a resilient health system felt threatened to cope with the burden. On the other hand, countries with low- and middle-income category (LMIC) like countries in Indian Subcontinent (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) struggled a much while facing the pandemic due to death, physical morbidity, services burden during the pandemic. One recent scoping review identified that the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and stress widely varies based on the study methods, study settings, phase of the pandemic and instrument used to assess the measures (<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1389515/full#B3" target="_blank">3</a>). It found the prevalence of anxiety varied from 2.5% in North India to 53% in Bangladesh, depression varied from 3.5% in North Indian slum to 29.8% in Pakistan, and stress related symptoms varied from 18.3% in Pakistan to 59.7% in Bangladesh (<a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1389515/full#B3" target="_blank">3</a>)...</p>