Mental health issues greater among women, youths during COVID – WHO

Peripheral effects of the coronavirus pandemic have shown that mental health challenges were greater among the youth and women populations.
A brief, released by the World Health Organisation (WHO), highlighted this fact after a comprehensive review of evidence about the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and related services. It pointed out that persons living with underlying health conditions were more prone to develop mental health issues.
“The pandemic has affected the mental health of young people and … they are disproportionally at risk of suicidal and self-harming behaviours. It also indicates that women have been more severely impacted than men and that people with pre-existing physical health conditions, such as asthma, cancer and heart disease, were more likely to develop symptoms of mental disorders,” the brief detailed.
Data suggests that people with pre-existing mental disorders do not appear to be disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 infection. Yet, when these people do become infected, they are more likely to suffer hospitalisation, severe illness and death compared with people without mental disorders. People with more severe mental disorders, such as psychoses, and young people with mental disorders are particularly at risk.
In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25 per cent. Concerns about potential increases in mental health conditions had already prompted 90 per cent of countries surveyed to include mental health and psychosocial support in their COVID-19 response plans, but major gaps and concerns remain.
“The information we have now about the impact of COVID-19 on the world’s mental health is just the tip of the iceberg…This is a wake-up call to all countries to pay more attention to mental health and do a better job of supporting their populations’ mental health,” said WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
One major explanation for the increase is the unprecedented stress caused by the social isolation resulting from the pandemic. Linked to this were constraints on people’s ability to work, seek support from loved ones, and engage in their communities.
The agency outlined, “Loneliness, fear of infection, suffering and death for oneself and for loved ones, grief after bereavement, and financial worries have also all been cited as stressors leading to anxiety and depression. Among health workers, exhaustion has been a major trigger for suicidal thinking.”
Unable to access face-to-face care, many people have sought support online, signalling an urgent need to make reliable and effective digital tools available and easily accessible. However, developing and deploying digital interventions remains a major challenge in resource-limited countries and settings. “
Data shows that 90 per cent of countries are working to provide mental health and psychosocial support to COVID-19 patients and responders alike.
Last month, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony informed that the Mental Health Unit is open to anyone requiring counselling. In addition, since last year, health workers have been trained at the primary level to detect instances of mental health complications among those who visit the facilities. (G12)