Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on mental health in Brazil, an analysis by Google Trends

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.1592382214077

• Palavras-chave: Mental health; Covid-19; Google Trends.

• Keywords: Mental health; Covid-19; Google Trends.

• Abstract:

  Introduction: The literature suggests that the pandemic is capable of accentuating levels of anxiety and stress in healthy individuals and potentiating the symptoms of those with pre-existing mental disorders. Goal: To assess the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the search profile for terms related to mental health on the Google Trends digital platform. Method: Descriptive, exploratory research, which analyzed Google searches on terms related to mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic period. Twelve terms were searched using the Google Trends (GT) interface to access internet search data. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and the t-student test were used to compare the indicators before and after the pandemic. Result: The terms “anxiety” and “stress” showed a considerable increase trend in the analyzed period. Among the terms related to interactive practices, all showed a growth trend, with “passiflora” being the term with the highest increase. Conclusion: There was an increase in searches on the GT digital platform for terms related to mental health, with integrative practices showing a more significant increase in relation to psychic symptoms. This finding may indirectly reflect the increase in mental illness in the population, as well as the online search for self-care solutions.

• Número de páginas: 16