The adverse impact of the pandemic on mental health was already visible in early 2020 when “in at least seven European Union countries, the estimated depression rates more than doubled compared to the period before COVID-19 struck,” Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reported, as cited by the state PAP news agency.
According to a report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the most affected groups are the young, the elderly, and those suffering from chronic illnesses.
Young people in particular reported much higher levels of depression and anxiety amid the pandemic than the general population, the OECD study found, according to the Polish newspaper.
In Poland, the mental health costs of the COVID-19 pandemic are being monitored by the University of Warsaw’s Psychology Department, among other researchers, the paper reported.
In their studies, Polish psychologists found that people between the ages of 18 and 24 were the most concerned and despondent when the pandemic began at the start of 2020. This was probably due to dramatic changes in their lifestyle and restrictions on their ability to meet their own needs, researchers observed.
Those negative effects of the pandemic then spread to other age groups, with lower moods likely caused by worry, tiredness and being overburdened with responsibilities, including having to combine parental and professional duties, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna said.
People also worried about their jobs and financial security, the Warsaw university researchers noted.
According to DGP, “the impact of the pandemic was so huge that it caused many people to develop symptoms of adaptive disorder, which happens when we encounter a new situation with which we are unable to cope."
Depression was found in 26 percent of respondents, while 44 percent had symptoms of generalised anxiety and 2.4 percent experienced post-traumatic stress disorder, the daily reported.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP