This study assesses the severity of psychopathological symptoms in the population under strict quarantine and the population without social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic. From April 18 to June 15, 2020, an online survey was conducted using a symptomatic questionnaire (SCL-90-R) in a sample of 837 residents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and other countries. 426 of them observed a strict regime of self-isolation at home; 302 were self-isolating but could attend work; 109 were not subject to self-isolation. As a result, indicators of anxiety, depression, somatization, obsessive-compulsive disorders, hostility, psychoticism, and the overall severity index were significantly higher in people under strict quarantine than in people without self-isolation (p < 0.05). Therefore, there is a need to organize affordable psychiatric and psychological support for the population in quarantine.

Yegor Batyrev is a practicing psychiatrist. He graduated from the Astana National Medical University in Kazakhstan. Currently, he works as an assistant at the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. He is also a PhD student in this department. The thesis he is working on is laxative dependence in patients with anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. He is an aspiring scientist, so he is just starting to earn an h-index.