The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of millions of people across the Western Pacific Region and around the world.
Australian woman Gemma Bishop, who was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in her twenties, is one of the many people whose mental health has been affected by the pandemic. “So much affects my anxiety at the moment.
I think it’s because there’s so much unknown still, like what does it look like at the end of this pandemic? Is there going to be an end to this?” On days when her anxiety is bad, Gemma, a professional actor and the mother of a toddler, describes feeling like a car that has overheated. “It’s a complete overload,” she says. “It’s really hard to know what to