Covid-19 has triggered cases of depression and anxiety around the world

The results show that depression increased by 28% and anxiety by 26%, in 2020.

“This highlights the urgent need to strengthen health systems.” estimated lead author of the study, Damien Santomauro, of the Queensland Mental Health Research Center in Australia.

“Even before the pandemic, the mental health systems of most countries were under-resourced and disorganized. Meeting this additional demand (…) will be difficult, but it is impossible to ignore it,” he said. he adds. added.

Women were more affected than men, and younger people more than older people.

“The covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the many existing inequalities and social determinants of mental illness. Unfortunately, for many reasons, women have been most affected by the social and economic consequences of this pandemic,” said the co – study author, Alize Ferrari.

“School closures and other major restrictions have limited the ability of young people to learn and interact with their peers, which, combined with the increased risk of unemployment” has had an impact on the mental health of very young people, he said. -he adds.

The results of the study therefore indicate that the countries most affected by the pandemic in 2020 are those which have experienced a greater increase in the prevalence of mental problems.

However, the authors acknowledge that their study was limited by the lack of reliable data from important regions of the world, especially those that include low- and middle-income countries.