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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease that has rapidly spread to most cities in the world since December 2019 causing a rise in global mortality and adverse effects on mental health. This paper aims to examine the potential implications of the pandemic for mental health in societies with economic and political instability, focusing on Lebanon.

Previous empirical research into mental health and COVID-19 was examined in relation to the Lebanese context.

There is a risk of poor mental health in Lebanon owing to the deleterious effects of military conflict and political instability over several decades. More recently, the country is also experiencing the worst economic crisis in its history with unprecedented rates of unemployment, inflation, poverty, and devaluation of the national currency. It is suggested that the lockdown measures may be depriving the Lebanese people of effective coping strategies, such as group memberships (e.g., religion), social support and community involvement, during the COVID-19 outbreak. This in turn may lead to the deployment of maladaptive coping strategies in the population.

Mental health services are still in their formative phases in Lebanon and mostly run by civil society organizations. There is an urgent need for a national action plan to respond to the potential mental health burden and use of maladaptive coping strategies which may arise in the aftermath of COVID-19.

This paper provides a novel analysis of mental health in Lebanese society through the lens of social, political, economic and psychological factors.

This cross-sectional study focuses on the social psychological correlates of self-harm and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) outbreak in Lebanon, which is a country characterized by political and economic instability.

A convenience sample of 191 Lebanese individuals completed measures of length of being in lockdown, fear of COVID-19, job insecurity, political trust, self-harm and suicidal ideation. Data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests and multiple regression.

Fear of COVID-19 was associated with neither self-harm nor suicidal ideation. Males and people with lower income reported higher suicidal ideation than females and those with higher income, respectively, and religiosity was inversely associated with suicidal ideation. People who reported self-harm generally exhibited lower political trust than those who did not report self-harm.

Beyond the fear of COVID-19, the socioeconomic sequelae of COVID-19 (especially the economic fallout and declining political trust), which are accentuated in already economically and politically unstable societies, may precipitate poor mental health and maladaptive coping strategies in Lebanon. There is a need to ensure adequate access to mental health services to the general population amid the COVID-19 outbreak in Lebanon.

This study provides novel insight into the risk factors for self-harm and suicidal ideation in Lebanon during the COVID-19 pandemic.