Dear Editor
he coronavirus newness and its high rate of spread have feared most people, a fear that in many cases causes social and psychological problems. Common psychological reactions include COVID phobia, anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder—just some of the associated problems related to coronavirus. Other problems caused by the disease include home quarantine, disruption of daily activities, obsession with cleanliness and washing, abnormal mourning for the death of loved ones, death of people, lack of equipped hospitals, difficulty in performing hospital duties, the fatigue of medical staff, illness and shortages in medical staff, hypersensitivity in some occupations due to disease control and treatment, economic problems of the community, closure of schools, universities, and offices, rumors in cyberspace and society [3].
Coronavirus has spread to many countries around the world and has claimed many lives. As of today, April 28, 2020, reports from the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education show that 92584 people have been infected in Iran, of whom, 5877 have died. According to the report, the number of people with coronavirus in the world is 3106000, of whom, more than 200000 have died. Unfortunately, the virus is not the only cause of death. Another important issue is the family of these people, who are not allowed to mourn, vent their emotions, and express grief. They get quarantined for a long time after the death of a loved one and cannot communicate with other relatives.
Also, the family of these people may be mentally ill when they have to mourn, but they can't mourn, or they may suffer from mental rumination during the quarantine period. One of the family members said, "I can't believe my spouse died easily. He was only 35 years old and had no illness. My wife was very kind. She died in the worst possible way. She died while she was very oppressed. There was no mourning ceremony or anyone". He expressed his condolences. "Sometimes I get angry with my relatives for not coming to my senses, and then I say no, I don't have the right to come". Besides, the person may experience delayed mourning at least 6 months later due to these conditions [4].
Delayed mourning is the lack of timely mourning or timely restraint; in fact, in these cases, the person may overreact, i.e., mourning, in the future due to a lack of proper emotional response. The main feature of late mourning is the long-term denial of the issue of loss. In other words, when these people lose loved ones, those around them and society prevent them from grief, sadness, and anxiety and do not allow them to mourn. They develop delayed mourning. Delayed grief causes psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sleep disturbances, eating disorders, anger, guilt, suicide, drug addiction, and so on [5]. It is recommended that virtual mourning ceremonies be held for these people instead of traditional mourning ceremonies. In the experience of mourning in cyberspace, it is possible to share audio, text, photos, and videos, and this type of mourning is beyond geographical boundaries [6].
We can propose protocols for this issue as the research findings indicate the relationship between delayed mourning and mental disorders [7]. In this regard, the need to design and develop virtual and online mourning for the family of these people is felt. Online access such as social networks, the Internet, telephone, and media can be a good platform to present this protocol. The target population of this protocol is the family of people whose loved one died of coronavirus. In general, considering the emphasis of the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical Education on the access of all people to health information [8], it is necessary to provide a suitable platform for the fulfillment of this mission.
Therefore, preparation, organization, and making accessible health information available at the right time and place to everyone helps reduce the cost of health care [9], disease prevention, and community health promotion. Finally, it is necessary for the government to anticipate these rights in national health information policies and to provide the necessary basis for their implementation.
Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
All methods used in the study of human participants are in accordance with the criteria of the Ethics Committee.
Funding
This article is a letter to the editor and has not received any financial support from the government or academic organizations.
Authors' contributions
Study Design, data collection, writing the manuscript: Maryam Sajadian; Providing the scientific data, revising the material for the final version: Mohammad Hossein Javadi; Approving the final manuscript: All authors.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the authorities of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences.