COVID-19 impact on men's mental health

Background, Significance, and Goals of the Special Issue

In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus 2020 (COVID-19) a global pandemic and acknowledged its fatal potential. Although the pandemic has since rapidly evolved, its effects on the health and well-being of the general population have barely been examined. The full impact of COVID-19 remains uncertain in most countries.

Scientific societies across the world are only scratching the surface in trying to determine how COVID-19 impacts humans' physical and mental health in both the short and long term. There are not only uncertain ramifications on humans' physical and psychological health, but also a lack of research specifically targeting the male population’s mental health.

The goal of this special issue is to focus on the impacts of COVID-19 on men’s mental health, including their ability to cope with existing comorbidities during the pandemic as well as problems related to healthcare access for men, physical and mental illnesses, employment and unemployment, interpersonal relationships, fatherhood and parenting, marital relationships and family life, isolation, loneliness, and leisure time.

In this special issue, we welcome contributions that describe and enumerate the COVID-19 mental health aspects among men, between men and women, and among boys and male adolescents. The proposed special issue encourages a broad range of submissions, including research articles and studies employing surveys, randomized controlled trials, systematic reviews, meta-analysis, quasi-experimental research design, qualitative research, mixed research design, big data analytics, and case reports. We also welcome analytical essays, opinion articles, and commentaries and reviews related to the impact of COVID-19 on men’s mental health with regard to any of the topics of interest listed below.

Topics of Interest:

-Coping with existing comorbidities during COVID-19

-Healthcare access in urban and rural areas

-Issues related to employment and unemployment during COVID-19

-The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on interpersonal relationships

-The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fatherhood

-Spousal relationships and family life during the pandemic

-Isolation and time spent on leisure activities during the pandemic

-Coping with mental illness during the pandemic

-Major depression and depressive symptoms

-Suicide

-Anxiety disorders

-Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

-Increased caregiving responsibilities among men during the COVID-19 pandemic

-Men's relationships with elderly parents

-Home finances

-Male and female health professionals' COVID-19 coping strategies

-Isolation, loneliness, and stress among men during COVID-19

-Changes in social relationships and daily habits

-Special populations of men coping with COVID-19 (such as men with disabilities, economically disadvantaged youth and adults, single fathers, homeless men, male adolescents who are in foster care).

-Cultural stigma for seeking help during the COVID-19 pandemic