According to World Health Organization Survey, COVID- 19 pandemic has disrupted the

lives of millions of people around the globe and the demand for mental health services has been

on the rise in most counties. The pandemic triggered vast lockdown and the entire population had

to go in isolation (Shroff & Becker, 2021).

Thesis statement:

The experience of COVID-19, breakdown of social support, loss of jobs and the stigma

behind the disease has affected many people’s mental health while others have resulted to

substance abuse

Major disruptions due to COVID-19 that has led to mental problems

1. In the United States forty-five percent of adults have reported experiencing stress and

anxiety and the number is likely to increase as the pandemic continues to spread.

2. In the United Kingdom approximately thirty-three percent of the residents Have said to

experience anxiety since the beginning of the pandemic.

3. Young adults have experienced closure of schools and loss of jobs resulting to poor

mental health.

4. Different nations have experienced economic downturns and hence lacking enough

resources to sustain the country.

THESIS AND OUTLINE 3

5. People of color- for instance the Hispanic and Latinos have suffered the effects of the

pandemic and accessing mental health services have become a challenge

6. Many essential workers such as nurses are at a high risk of contracting the virus.

Why people have turned to substance abuse

1. The pandemic was not expected therefore, most people had not prepared both financially

and emotionally for the period.

2. With government enacting lockdown in most countries the economic status was affected

greatly and most business could not retain their workers hence most individual were

sacked or retrenched from their jobs.

3. With families to feed, bills to take care of and no income coming in, most individuals

resulted to abuse of drugs as a way to occupy their minds and not face the reality that was

happening (Panchal et al, 2020).

4. Most individuals that turned to substance abuse after the pandemic have had to deal with

loss of property due to lack of funds to finance mortgages, family breakup and loss of

jobs.

While writing my thesis statement I started with the introduction followed by the thesis

statement and with this it has been easy to build on the body.