We suspected it, and a new memorandum from the World Health Organization (WHO) confirms it: the Covid-19 epidemic, which has been raging on the surface of the planet since the end of 2019, has caused an increase in cases of depression and anxiety around the world. An increase described as “significant” by Brandon Gray, of the Department of Mental Health and Use of Psychoactive Substances of the WHO, who coordinated this thesis. Indeed, in 2020, the cases of major depressive disorders and anxiety disorders increased by 27.6% and 25.6% respectively worldwide.
Furthermore, this memoir shows that suicidal behaviors, including suicide attempts and cases of self-harm, have also increased among young people since the pandemic.
Women and the youngest have particularly suffered from the epidemic
Last October, a study published in the specialized journal The Lancet already mentioned this increase in the number of cases of major depressive disorders. Researchers from the Queensland Center for Mental Health Research (Australia) had studied medical data from 204 countries around the world. According to their findings, during the year 2020, due to the Covid-19 epidemic, cases of “major depressive disorders” had increased by + 28% compared to previous years, and cases of anxiety disorders + 26%.
Between the repeated confinements, the lack of social contacts and the uncertainties for the future, these figures are easily explained. The Australian researchers pointed out that women and the youngest had been particularly affected by the Covid-19 epidemic. The WHO confirms in its submission that: “Women were more affected than men, and younger people, especially 20-24 year olds, were more affected than older age groups“.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated many existing inequalities and the social determinants of mental illness. Unfortunately, for many reasons, women have been more likely to be more affected by the social and economic consequences of this pandemic.“, they explain.
Moreover, “school closures and wider restrictions limiting young people’s ability to learn and interact with their peers, combined with the increased risk of unemployment.“Unsurprisingly, the countries most heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic (in the Middle East, South America and South Asia, in particular) are those showing the largest rise in cases of anxiety. and depression.
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