THE RISING SCOURGE OF MENTAL ILLNESS AND INFODEMIC: AN OUTCOME OF SOCIAL MEDIA AND COVID-19

COVID-19 was accompanied with the increasing broadcast of fake news, misinformation and excessive information via social media platforms. This phenomenon has been termed "infodemic", to describe an overwhelming amount of mostly fake, false or inaccurate information which spreads rapidly and impacts negatively on achieving a solution. It would therefore be desirable to use a cautious approach which utilizes culturally sensitive and country specific measures to deal with this occurrence. We aim to raise awareness, likewise draw the attention of global scientific community on this topic of public and mental health concern and it calls for further comments on this issue.