OBJECTIVES: Pandemics or epidemics have been found to lead to the widespread contagion and lockdown, which will inevitably have psychological effects on people’s mental health. The global research on pandemics or epidemics and mental health is growing exponentially in recent years. Our goal is to systematically synthesize the evidence for global pandemics or epidemics and mental health using natural language processing (NLP) techniques.

METHODS: We systematically identified and mapped literature published prior to May 19, 2023, using text classification, topic modelling and geoparsing methods. We searched Embase, PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo, and Web of Science Core Collection, using titles, abstracts, and keywords, and included only those indexed in English.

RESULTS: We included 32,704 studies in the area of pandemics or epidemics and mental health published before May 19, 2023. The Covid pandemic was the most common, followed by SARS and HIV/AIDS; Anxiety and stress were the most frequently studied mental health outcomes; Social support and healthcare were the most common way of coping. Geographically, the evidence base was dominated by studies from high-income countries. Co-occurrence of pandemics or epidemics and fear, depression, stress was common. Anxiety was one of the three most common topics in all continents except North America, where alcohol consumption was the most prevalent topic. The findings reflected the overview of existing research on pandemics or epidemics and mental health, and also highlighted their recovery responses.

CONCLUSIONS: Evidence accumulated confirms that pandemics or epidemics are having a significant psychological impact on individuals. Potential risk and protective factors, as well as appropriate prevention, treatment and rehabilitation strategies are required to cope with pandemics. On the other hand, integrating methodological standards from systematic reviews with new NLP approaches can be the key to advancing evidence synthesis, so as to prepare for the health impacts of pandemics or epidemics.