COPE - Corona pandemic experiences by patients with psychotic- and bipolar disorders
Patients with psychosis and bipolar disorder are often in need of long-term treatment in mental health care. The intensity of treatment will vary depending on the stages of illness. We also know that patients with psychosis and bipolar disorder are more vulnerable to stress and many struggle with loneliness.
During the coronary pandemic, the mental health care services has been less available than usual. Simultaneously, the pandemic is a cause of distress on many levels, ranging from fear of getting the virus, fear of financial consequences and fear of losing close people who may be at risk of serious illness. On the other hand, there are reports of people who feel a in the thought than for once the whole world seems to have slowed down. There are less visible differences between us.
In COPE we want to map how the pandemic is experienced by persons with psychosis and/or bipolar disorder. The project has a special focus on coping strategies, quality of life, general concern, anxiety, depression, psychosis symptoms, sleep, mania and substance abuse. At the same time, we want to identify what kind of services the patients have been offered during the pandemic and how they experience these services. The short-term goal is to identify areas that can be improved during the current situation. The long-term goal is to make us better prepared for a future pandemic or lock-down situation.
This is a cross-sectional study developed an anonymous survey using Nettskjema and services for sensitive data (TSD) at the University of Oslo. We will use social media to reach responders with both quantitative and qualitative questions.
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