Although mental distress and quality of life (QoL) impairments because of the pandemic have increased worldwide, the way that each community has been affected has varied.

This study evaluated the impact of social distancing imposed by coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) on Brazilians’ mental health and QoL.

In this cross-sectional community-based online survey, data from 1156 community-dwelling adults were gathered between 11 May and 3 June 2020. We examined independent correlates of depression, anxiety and QoL, including sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, optimism/pessimism and spiritual/religious coping. Dependent variables were assessed using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire for depressive symptoms, the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale for anxiety symptoms, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF for QoL. Correlates of depressive and anxiety disorder were estimated using logistic regression.

There were high levels of depressive symptoms (41.9%) and anxiety symptoms (29.0%) in participants. Negative spiritual/religious coping was positively correlated with depressive disorder (odds ratio (OR) = 2.14 95% CI 1.63–2.80; P < 0.001) and with anxiety disorder (OR = 2.46 95% CI 1.90–3.18; P < 0.001), and associated with worse social and environmental QoL (P < 0.001). Healthcare professionals were less likely to have depressive symptoms (OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.55–0.93; P < 0.001). Participants with friend/family with COVID-19 scored lower on psychological and environmental QoL (P < 0.05). Participants with a longer duration of social isolation were less likely to experience anxiety disorder (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.98–0.99; P = 0.004).

We found high levels of depressive and anxiety symptoms and low levels of QoL in Brazil, which has become a pandemic epicentre. Several characteristics were associated with negative mental health symptoms in this study. This information may contribute to local health policies in dealing with the mental health consequences of COVID-19.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a non-invasive in vivo method used to quantify metabolites that are relevant to a wide range of brain processes. This paper briefly describes neuroimaging using MRS and provides a systematic review of its application to anxiety disorders.

A literature review was performed in the PubMed, Lilacs and Scielo databases using the keywords spectroscopy and anxiety disorder. References of selected articles were also hand-searched for additional citations.

Recent studies have shown that there are significant metabolic differences between patients with anxiety disorders and healthy controls in various regions of the brain. Changes were mainly found in N-acetylaspartate, which is associated with neuronal viability, but some of them were also seen in creatine, a substance that is thought to be relatively constant among individuals with different pathological conditions.

MRS is a sophisticated neuroimaging technique that has provided useful insights into the biochemical and neurobiological basis of many anxiety disorders. Nevertheless, its utilization in some anxiety disorders is still modest, particularly social phobia and generalised anxiety. Although it is an extremely useful advance in neuroimaging, further research in other brain areas and patient populations is highly advisable.