The Mental Health Impact of Covid Leaves Many People with Problems Fearing Falling Through the Cracks. By Adam Colclough

 

“I hope we come out of this a kinder and more considerate society, but I’m not sure that we will. I fear that many people will be traumatized and fall through the cracks”.

This comment was made by one of the 12,000 people of all ages living with mental health problems who shared their experience of life during the pandemic with mental health charity MIND.

The findings of the research published earlier this month make for disturbing reading and suggest that post-pandemic mental health could become an even more pressing public health issue.

The research found that people who were struggling before the pandemic hit are likely to be struggling even more now, some have hopes their mental health will improve as restrictions ease, many though fear it will get worse due to associated feelings of anxiety.

Coronavirus has exacerbated pre-existing inequalities with people who were experiencing high levels of stress and depression due to poverty being particularly impacted.

Young people have also struggled with many turning to self-harm and other negative coping strategies.

Research carried out by Columbia University found that global levels of anxiety and depression had risen sharply and that one of the main causes was mitigation measures put in place to stop the spread of the virus.

Levels of depression were reported as varying widely between Europe and Asia with Asian countries generally reporting lower levels of depression.

Lead author of the research Joao Casteldelli-Maia of Columbia University said “The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting physical distancing measures to mitigate viral spread, has certainly impacted population mental health worldwide, and the high prevalence of mental health disorders is a considerable concern during the COVID era.”

Drawing on data from NHS Digital and other sources the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported in May on the rising levels of pandemic related mental health problems in the UK.

Their findings included that GP made diagnoses of depression had risen sharply since the start of the pandemic and that young people, particularly young women, had suffered most.

MIND have set out five actions they would like to government to take as the country attempts to recover from the pandemic.

These are, giving support to those groups who need it most, such as people living in poverty; understanding that the mental health needs of individuals are often complex; giving people more choice over the services they engage with; making self-referral to services easier and challenging stigma around mental illness.

The ONS research suggests that due to a combination of factors including fear of catching COVID and difficulty accessing services reporting of mental health problems may be significantly lower than their actual prevalence.

This could create a ‘dark figure’, the gap between official statistics and the true prevalence of something in society that will make it even harder for already stretched services to cope.