Britons have ‘lost brain power and more likely to take risks’ after lockdowns

BRITONS have lost brain power, are less kind to strangers and are more likely to take risks due to the impact of Covid-19 lockdown rules, a study has found.

Following the anniversary of the first lockdown, many researchers fear the mental health impact will have large implications to come.

Four in 10 people were at risk of suffering a mental health-related illness as a result of the shock of the pandemic and may have made poor decisions they did not think through due the impact, according to the study.

In 2020, there was a 126 per cent increase in people moving from cities to villages and divorce firms said there was a 122% increase in divorce applications and enquiries compared to the previous year.

Researchers examined volunteers from the UK, Spain and Italy who all were thought to have badly managed the pandemic at the beginning when lockdown had a greater impact on their populations.

Data was collected on occupational, health, mental health and stress from 5,000 volunteers and their cognitive function was also measured in the first and second waves of the pandemic.

The study found people were now more likely to take more risks, likely because it felt like the lockdown was never going to end, and felt the desire to punish others for breaking rules despite also doing so themselves, as well as demonstrating poorer cognitive abilities.

Professor Francisco Lupianez, at the Open University of Catalonia, said: “We wanted to explore the impact of lockdown and other Covid-19-related restrictions on people’s lives and how this affected their decision-making.

“People’s decision-making abilities were impaired, and their reactions were not those we might have expected. Instead of being more careful because they were in a pandemic, they were taking risks, because they couldn’t take it any more.

“The results of the study show those who were more exposed to the consequences of the effects of lockdown also experienced more diminished cognitive capacity, made riskier decisions, and suffered reduced civic-mindedness.

“As for others, they wanted, for example, those who did not wear masks or evaded restrictions to be punished, even though they themselves were more likely to make riskier choices”.

He added: “Very difficult choices were made without taking into account the social cost involved. They only took into account a single, short-term perspective. And now we know that four out of 10 people were at risk of suffering a mental health-related illness as a result of the shock produced by this pandemic.

“All this will have implications in the medium term”.

Dr Lupianez said if another lockdown occurs, government officials must “design better responses and communication campaigns for future pandemics”.