A new study published in The Lancet reveals that mental health disorders have not only increased globally, but are also affecting women and young people more disproportionately. This is the first large-scale global estimate of the prevalence of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic. It reveals that an additional 53 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76 million cases of anxiety disorders were observed due to the pandemic.
The authors of the study showed that those countries which have been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic saw the largest rise in cases of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorder. The systematic study covered regional studies on mental health from major global clusters like Western Europe, North America, Australasia, Asia Pacific, East Asia and Central Europe. The meta-analysis done by the researchers revealed that high COVID-19 infection rates and restricted mobility due to lockdowns were the chief causes behind mental health disorders increasing during 2020.
The researchers estimated that had the pandemic not occurred at all, there would have been an estimated 193 million additional cases of major depressive disorder globally in 2020. Instead, due to the pandemic, there were 246 million cases of major depressive disorder, indicating an increase of 28 per cent. More than 35 million of these additional cases were in women. Only 18 million additional cases were attributed to men.
Similarly, when it comes to anxiety disorders, there would have been an estimated 298 million cases if the pandemic hadn’t happened. Instead, the researchers found 374 million cases in 2020, indicating that anxiety disorders showed an increase of 26 per cent. Almost 52 million of these additional cases were in women, while 24 million were in men.
The study also found that younger people were more affected by both major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders than older people. School closures, restrictions on mobility and socialisation, and higher risks of unemployment were some of the reasons behind this increase.
The researchers behind this study have called for urgent action by global governments and policymakers to strengthen mental health systems to be able to meet this increasing demand on mental health resources due to the pandemic. They also pointed out that mental healthcare systems in most countries are already under-resourced and disorganised, which is why additional focus on this aspect of the healthcare system is immediately required. This is also because both major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders are also linked to increased risks of other health outcomes, like suicide.