Depression and anxiety increased by 25% worldwide due to pandemic – telam

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the many existing inequalities and social determinants of mental illness.

Cases of depression and anxiety increased on average by 25% worldwide in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic according to a study published by the scientific journal The Lancet, the first to assess the impact that the coronavirus has had on mental health.

The study assessed the impact of the pandemic on clinical problems of depression and anxiety, broken down by age, sex and location in 204 countries and territories in 2020. and resulted in an increase in depression by 28% and anxiety by 26% in 2020, according to the AFP news agency.

“This highlights the urgent need to strengthen health systems,” said 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.

The document points out that women were more affected than men, and the youngest more than the elderly.

46% of Argentines consider that their mental health has deteriorated because of the pandemic.“

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

The specialist stressed that school closures and other significant restrictions “limited the ability of young people to learn and interact with their peers, which, combined with the increased risk of unemployment, had an impact on the mental health of young people.”

The results of the study therefore indicate that The countries most affected by the pandemic in 2020 are those that have seen the greatest 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.

In Argentina, anxiety was one of the main symptoms suffered in the wake of the pandemic, according to a study by consulting firm Ipsos for the World Economic Forum, carried out between February and March.

According to this survey, 46% of Argentines consider that their mental health has deteriorated because of the pandemic.