The prestigious award is granted to one individual recognized for producing the most influential doctoral thesis nationally.
The dissertation "The COVID-19 Pandemic as a Critical Incident and its Impact on Depression" systematically examines the relationship between mental health and the various significant challenges we were exposed to during the pandemic, including how different pandemic mitigation strategies and the spread of contagious disease were related to mental health problems in the population.
– A key finding was that depressive symptoms in the population were unrelated to the societal infection rates but closely associated with the social distancing protocols instated during the pandemic. In contrast, anxiety symptoms were more closely related to the infection rates in society. We also know from more recent findings that the different viral mitigation protocols had distinct impact on mental health, says the award winner about the dissertation, which he defended for his doctoral degree on April 5th, 2024.
Groundbreaking knowledge
The findings formed a critical basis for real-time information and the handling of the pandemic nationally and internationally and will remain of importance in the face of future crises by clarifying how different viral mitigation protocols can protect against infection, while simultaneously protecting against adverse impact on mental health.
"Ebrahimi's doctoral research has contributed to groundbreaking knowledge about mental health during a critical period with an essential need for psychological knowledge and is an excellent example of how psychological research can illuminate society's most pressing challenges in a robust and relevant way," reads the statement of the jury's justification for the award by the Norwegian Psychological Association.
The dissertation reveals the different risk groups present during pandemics, and the central psychosocial mechanisms that, in such periods, help to protect mental health and conversely, lead to ill health.
– What was the most important finding of the dissertation?
- One of the most important findings is that we identified a critical period for adaptation during the initial months of the pandemic. A pandemic is followed by major upheavals in one's everyday life, and we found that the ability to adapt to this early was important for long-term predictor of mental health outcomes several years in the future.
We also find that, despite the initial shock experienced at the onset of the pandemic when facing new protocols and an unknown virus – the dangerousness of which we knew little in the beginning of the pandemic – most of individuals would display resilience to mental health problems and recover quickly, says Ebrahimi. He points out that most people managed to overcome the problems they experienced during the pandemic. This illustrates, according to the award winner, our ability to adapt, even in situations that lead to drastic changes in our lives in a short time.
– Unfortunately, there was also a significant minority group of individuals without any previous mental health issues, who developed severe and long-lasting mental health problems. This occurred already within the initial months of the pandemic, with these issues persisting for three years – essentially, as long as we observed them, he explains.
Crucial to implement preventive measures
– Many individuals in this latter group developed mental disorders and sought treatment in the aftermath of the pandemic. This could be connected to increased treatment queues across several regions nationally. This shows that it is crucial to implement preventive measures during the early months of the pandemic to hinder the development of long-term mental health problems, affirms Ebrahimi.
Omid V. Ebrahimi was nominated for the award by the Department of Psychology at University of Oslo. As a double-degree PhD candidate, a prestigious and challenging degree where one undertakes a clinical specialist degree and a PhD simultaneously, he was also affiliated with Modum Bad Psychiatric Hospital during his work on the dissertation. Ebrahimi is currently a researcher at the University of Oxford, where he leads his own research team, the Oxford EDGE Lab, consisting of 11 members.
– We investigate how global and national crises, such as pandemics, armed conflict, natural disasters, and economic recessions, predict the changes in mental health and our behavior, he shares.
Omid V. Ebrahimi recently won the Excellent Teacher Award from University of Oxford for his teaching and mentorship efforts, already after his first year at the University.