Undeniably, there has been a significant impact on our mental health due to the ongoing pandemic, but it is important to know how you can mitigate that impact.
A new study conducted by researchers of the University of Basel, Switzerland, addressed the question of how can you mitigate the mental health impacts of a lockdown.
In the initial stages of the coronavirus pandemic, we did not know how lockdowns would affect our mental health.
Co-leader of the study Dr. Andrew Gloster said, “On the one hand, such drastic changes to daily routines can be detrimental to mental health. On the other hand, because the entire population was more or less equally affected during the lockdown, it remained unclear whether this impact would occur.”
The study, published in PLOS One, conducted an online survey in 18 languages, with more than 10,000 people participating in the survey from 78 nations. The researchers collected their mental health information and overall health during the lockdown.
At least one in 10 respondents reported having low levels of mental health. The participants said they experienced negative mental health effects, stress, depression, and an overall pessimistic view of society. Of those, 50% reported only moderate mental health issues.
These findings are consistent with other surveys addressing the impact of the pandemic on mental health.
The study researchers found similar responses in the different surveyed nations; however, there were some differences. For instance, Hong Kong and Turkey reported more stress than other nations. The United States reported more depressive symptoms, while Hong Kong and Italy had the lowest mental health well-being.
On the other hand, Austria, Germany, and Switzerland reported significantly fewer negative emotions than other countries.
The authors explained that these differences could be due to a combination of “nation-specific responses to the pandemic, cultural differences, and factors such as political unrest,” according to Science Daily.
People with a loss of financial income and those who had no access to basic supplies were associated with worse outcomes.
However, factors such as social support, higher education levels, being able to adapt flexibly to the situation improved outcomes in some people.
Dr. Gloster said, “Public health initiatives should target people without social support and those whose finances worsen as a result of the lockdown.”
“Based on these results,” he added, “interventions that promote psychological flexibility like acceptance and commitment therapy hold promise when it comes to mitigating the impact of the pandemic and lockdowns.” The article originally appeared on Science Daily.
