Lockdowns get some down
Berlin – After suffering from depression for 15 years, Lena Ulrich had found ways to manage her life.
“I had a great therapist, good support in my private life and had structured my life in such a way that it was working quite well for me,” said the 37-year-old, who hails from Cologne.
But when Germany went into partial lockdown in March, many support services closed or moved online. People were urged to stay at home and dramatically reduce social contact in a bid to reduce coronavirus infections.
“Everything collapsed quickly for me,” Ulrich said. “I ended up in a prolonged depressive episode.”
Ulrich is one of many people with mental health conditions who have been hit especially hard by the pandemic in Germany.
And with the country now in a second stay-at-home shutdown until at least the end of January, fears are running high that the situation will only worsen for this vulnerable group.
In a recent survey by health insurance company Pronova BKK, three-quarters of the 154 psychiatrists and psychotherapists questioned said they were expecting an increase in mental illness over the next 12 months as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
According to the charity German Depression Aid, people with depression experienced the restrictions as far more stressful than the general population. They were almost twice as likely to report adverse effects caused by a lack of structure (75% versus 39%), while more than half saw access to treatment restricted.
Psychiatric outpatient clinics, counselling centres and suicide crisis services have all seen an increase in demand during the pandemic, according to Dietrich Munz, head of the German Chamber of Psychotherapists.
“There are now a whole series of studies showing that the mental stress caused by the restrictive measures, or by becoming unwell, can also lead to mental illness,” Munz said.
For Georg Kepkowski, 58, it felt as though “many of the building blocks that help me to stay stable had fallen away”.
“I felt isolated and because of this... I went into a bout of depression,” said Kepkowski, who lives in the city of Duisburg.
Social isolation can easily lead to a deterioration in mental health, said Munz. –