These are the biggest mental health problems caused by quarantine, and 6 things you can do to prevent them

Being lonely can take a toll on your mental health.martin-dm/Getty Images

• Research into the psychological impact of quarantine indicates that extended isolation can have negative impacts on mental health, from increasing stress and sadness to igniting irritability and emotional anger.
• Amy Morin, a psychotherapist, licensed clinical social worker, and mental strength coach, says that there are different steps you can take to safeguard your mental wellness while social-distancing.
• Morin recommends building a routine of healthy coping skills for when you're feeling down, staying physically active, and keeping in touch virtually with friends.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The pandemic changed most people's daily routines. School and daycare closures, workers being told to work remotely, and brick and mortar store closures have resulted in most people's lives being swiftly flipped upside down.

Just as stress levels rose, many of us also lost access to our go-to coping skills. We can't get together with loved ones. We can't go to the gym. And we can't do many of the fun activities that help moderate our stress.

It's the perfect recipe for mental health problems. So it's not surprising that researchers have discovered that quarantine can lead to a rise in mental illness.

Individual reactions to quarantine vary — along with the circumstances. Someone who lives alone and continues to work from home will have a very different experience than someone who loses their job and has children that need help with schoolwork during the quarantine.

Therefore, everyone's mental health is affected in a slightly different way. So while rates of depression and anxiety may increase, not everyone will develop symptoms that warrant a clinical diagnosis. This doesn't mean they won't still experience a decline in psychological well-being, however.

It's a common misconception that people are either mentally healthy or mentally ill. But in reality, mental health is a continuum. And on any given day, we may slide up the continuum toward better mental health, or we may slide down the continuum toward poorer mental health.

The stress related to quarantine causes many people to experience a decline in mental health.

A 2019 study published in The Lancet reviewed previous studies that assessed quarantine and the impact it had on mental health. Researchers discovered that during and after quarantine, people often experienced increased:

• Sadness
• Numbness
• Fear
• Insomnia
• Low mood
• Depressive symptoms
• Anger
• Confusion
• Post-traumatic stress symptoms
• Stress
• Irritability
• Emotional exhaustion
• Emotional disturbance

In addition to increased mental health issues, substance abuse may also increase during and after quarantine. The same study found that substance and alcohol dependency were more common up to three years after quarantines had ended.

Fortunately, there are some steps you can take to build mental strength and improve your mental health during and after quarantine.