Lockdowns caused 125m extra cases of depression, study finds

DEPRESSION and anxiety rose by more than a quarter during the pandemic, according to the first global estimate of Covid’s impact on mental health last year.

Reduced movement of people, prompted by lockdowns across the world, and high infection rates were associated with more than 125 million extra cases of depression and anxiety disorders in 2020.

The findings, published in The Lancet, suggest that countries hit hardest by coronavirus suffered the greatest increase. Depressive disorders increased by 28 per cent and anxiety 26 per cent globally, analysis found.

Europe had a slightly higher incidence, recording a 29.4 per cent rise in depression and 30 per cent in anxiety.

The new study is the first to assess global impacts of the pandemic on major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders, quantifying the prevalence and burden by age, sex, and location in 204 countries and territories.

Without the pandemic, model estimates suggest there would have been 193 million cases of major depressive disorder, or 2,471 cases per 100,000 population globally. However, the analysis shows there were 246 million cases – 3,153 per 100,000 – an increase of 28 per cent or an additional 53 million cases.

Dr Damian Santomauro of the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research in Australia, said: “Even before the pandemic, mental healthcare systems in most countries have historically been under-resourced and disorganised in their service delivery.

“Meeting the added demand for mental health services due to Covid will be challenging, but taking no action should not be an option.”

More than 35 million of the extra cases were in women, compared with just under 18 million in men.

Co-author Dr Alize Ferrari said that women were more likely to have been affected by the pandemic because of existing inequalities.

She said: “Additional caring and household responsibilities tend to fall on women, and because women are more likely to be victims of domestic violence.” Other mental health problems – such as eating disorders – may also have increased during the pandemic according to the research team .

Dr Maxime Taquet and Prof Paul Harrison, of Oxford University, said the findings “starkly highlight” the impact of the pandemic on mental health globally.