Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health
COVID-19 and Mental Health
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic and global health emergency, and daily life instantly and drastically changed worldwide. Entire communities, systems and economies shut down, and — over the course of the next three years — experts linked more than 750 million confirmed cases and nearly 7 million confirmed deaths to COVID-19.
Five years on, scientists are still studying the repercussions of the pandemic. This research continues to indicate that the impact of COVID-19 on mental health was profound, unprecedented and overwhelmingly — but not totally — negative.
Negative Effects of COVID-19 on Mental Health
The COVID-19 pandemic — and the uncertainty and isolation it caused — contributed to many individuals feeling heightened and prolonged levels of stress, fear, loneliness and confusion. Existing social networks, formed through schools, places of worship, work and recreation, were disrupted and sometimes impossible to maintain. And common outlets for stress relief — from social gatherings and sporting engagements to cultural events and milestone celebrations — instantly disappeared.
Some compelling findings on the impact of COVID-19 and mental health include:
- The prevalence of anxiety and depression across the globe increased by a massive 25% in the pandemic’s first year, according to the World Health Organization.
- Compared to a prepandemic baseline, mental health-related emergency visits in year two of the pandemic increased by 22.1% among teen girls, ages 13 to 17, according to a study supported by the National Institute of Mental Health.
- About 37% of U.S. high-school students reported experiencing poor mental health during the pandemic, according to a 2021 survey administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Compared to the general non-COVID population during the pandemic, COVID-19 survivors had higher rates of depression (45% versus 33%), anxiety (47% versus 31%) and sleep disturbances (34% versus 20%), as reported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
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Mental Health and Specific Populations
The consequences and changes sparked by COVID-19 affected some groups more than others. The World Health Organization examined studies on the pandemic and mental health and identified some of the hardest-hit demographic groups. This group included:
- People with preexisting mental disorders. The risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 is higher among people living with mental disorders.
- Health care professionals: Exhausted health care workers were found to be at greater risk for suicidal thoughts relative to the general population.
Black people — and communities of color more generally — were another hard-hit demographic. In Maryland, for example, researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine compared suicide deaths in Black versus white residents before and during the pandemic. The rate of suicide deaths doubled for Black residents while it did the opposite — nearly halved — for their white neighbors.
Many young people struggled with the shift to remote learning. Students felt increasingly isolated, aware of missing important life milestones, and found themselves suddenly home-bound, tied to technology and sedentary — all factors that can fuel increased stress, anxiety and depression. Younger people also ran a higher risk of exhibiting suicidal behaviors during the pandemic when compared to older age groups, according to the World Health Organization.
Young females, in particular, faced steeper mental health challenges, reports KFF, a leading health policy organization in the United States. Symptoms indicative of depressive disorder rose in adolescent women — increasing from 47% in 2019 to 57% in 2021. Adolescent men were far less impacted, experiencing these same symptoms at a rate of 27% to 29% over the same time frame.
Learn more about Kids, Families and COVID-19
Positive Effects of COVID-19 on Mental Health
COVID-19’s impact on mental health wasn’t all negative. The pandemic pushed mental health challenges and needs into sharp focus.
Among the positive impacts of COVID-19 on mental health: It jump started a new era of accessible medical care. Telemedicine encounters surged 766% during the earliest months of the pandemic, according to a national survey of private insurance claims data for 36 million working-age individuals.
The study found that telehealth appointments expanded from 0.3% to 23.6% of all interactions over the same four-month period in 2019 versus 2020. This increase in telehealth adoption has enabled doctors to deliver specialty care to new areas and patients, including patient from rural areas, according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Technology also helped counter some of the negative consequences of social isolation during the pandemic, according to an online survey of adolescents. Researchers from California State University, who conducted the survey, found that “More online friend communication and friend support were related to less loneliness and stress.”
Finally: The pandemic inspired some people to rethink their own commitment to well-being. Twenty-six percent of Americans surveyed by the Pew Research Center in 2022 reported that staying healthy had become more important to them during the pandemic.
