Germany takes into account COVID-19 impact on mental health

After suffering from depression for 15 years, Lena Ulrich had found ways to manage her life.

“I had a great therapist, good support in my private life and I had structured and organized my life in such a way that it worked well enough for me,” said the 37-year-old from Cologne.

But when Germany entered partial lockdown in March, many support services shut down or went live. People have been urged to stay at home and dramatically reduce social contact in an effort to reduce coronavirus infections.

“It all fell apart relatively quickly for me,” Ulrich said. “I found myself in a fairly strong and prolonged depressive episode.”

Ulrich is one of the many people with mental disorders who have been particularly affected by the pandemic in Germany.

And with the country now in a second home stay shutdown until at least the end of January, fears are growing that the situation will only get worse for this vulnerable group.

In a recent survey by health insurance company Pronova BKK, three quarters of 154 psychiatrists and psychotherapists surveyed said they expected an increase in mental illness in the next 12 months due to the COVID-19 crisis .

According to the charity German Depression Aid, people with depression experienced the restrictive spring measures much more stressful than the general population.

They were almost twice as likely to report side effects caused by a lack of structure (75% vs. 39%), while more than half saw their access to treatment restricted.

‘I felt isolated’

According to Dietrich Munz, head of the German Chamber of Psychotherapists, outpatient psychiatric clinics, counseling centers and suicide crisis services have all seen an increase in demand during the pandemic.

“There is now a whole host of studies showing that mental stress caused by restrictive measures, or by discomfort, can also lead to mental illness,” Munz told AFP.

For Georg Kepkowski, 58, it was as if “a lot of things that help me stay stable had fallen”.

“I felt isolated and because of that… I went into a bout of depression,” said Kepkowski, who lives in the town of Duisburg and has suffered from depression since his twenties.

Social isolation can easily lead to deteriorating mental health, according to Munz.

“Humans are social beings. This means that we seek and need people-to-people exchanges – at all levels, from little conversations in the workplace to conversations of trust with good acquaintances or friends.” – Fear of death – But being stuck inside with the same people for days on end comes with its own problems.

“Too much closeness can also cause psychological stress,” Munz said. “Being reduced exclusively to the family is also difficult if there are too few retirement possibilities.”

And then there is the fear of catching the virus, the uncertainty around what would happen if we became ill and even the fear of death for those in the high-risk groups, the expert points out.

Praised for its handling of the first wave of the virus, Germany was hit hard by the second, with a surge in new cases and daily deaths exceeding 1,000 for the first time in late December.

Ulrich Hegerl, director of German Depression Aid, urged people with depression to take steps to avoid isolation during the second shutdown.

“Fears of being infected with the virus, but especially restrictive measures, are a burden for many people,” he said.

His organization offers a helpline for people in distress and an online forum.

He also recommends support groups on social media and some smartphone apps designed to help people deal with depression.

Many psychotherapists have moved their sessions online during outages, allowing people to continue treatment without leaving their homes.

© 2021 AFP