Post-Pandemic: Mental Health Consequences

By C. Paixao

The COVID-19 pandemic was first reported in December of 2019, prior to its control over the world in 2020 and 2021. Lockdown was applied worldwide to prevent spreading the disease and the formation of new strains and variants of the disease. 

​Due to this lockdown, people ended up distancing themselves from friend groups, social gatherings and society in general. Financial instability, unemployment, and anxiety have all increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which contributes to people’s worsening mental health. Mainly caused by the decrease of protective variables such as social connections, physical activity, employment, and educational involvement. As a result, there has been an unprecedentedly large downturn in people's mental health worldwide. 


For example, anxiety and depression prevalence in early 2020 in countries, like Belgium, France, Italy, Czech Republic and Mexico, were at least twice as large as the previous year.  
 
According to a Commonwealth fund research performed between March and May 2020, many people reported suffering from stress, anxiety, or depression that was difficult to cope with on their own since the pandemic began. The research results for people suffering from a mental condition stated that Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States had the highest rates of mental discomfort respectively. While the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden had the lowest.  Other indicators of population mental discomfort, such as self-reported mental health status, distress, and sleep disruption, corroborate to the trend of worsening mental health. 
 
As the pandemic is being put behind us, these issues should alleviate soon, as people return to engage in their regular daily activities. However, it serves as a reminder of just how valued connections with each other are, and how detrimental it is to be deprived of them.