The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a mental toll even on people who are not directly affected by the virus, according to a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.
Researchers of the study carried out a mental health survey in Australia and found that in countries like Australia that has registered low fatality and infection rate, people still experience twice as much depression and anxiety.
The researchers noted that the outcomes are largely related to financial stress and disruptions to people's social lives.
Lead author Dr Amy Dawel of the Australian National University in Canberra, Australia said in an official statement: “We already know from past pandemic research that the people who are most affected, such as those who become ill and/or are hospitalised and their carers, experience more severe impacts. However, the impacts of Covid-19 on the broader population in relatively less affected countries are also likely to be substantial.”
“Our data show that the by-products of Covid-19 are affecting populations broadly--notwithstanding how great the physical illness impact is--and the concern is that countries with strong restrictions, who appear to circumvent the worst of Cövid-19, may overlook the indirect impacts of the pandemic,” she added.
For the mental health study, Dr Dawel and her team surveyed nearly 1,300 Australian adults in March. At this time, authorities had recently closed international borders, bars and restaurants, and limited social gatherings.
The participants included a representative distribution of the population, with equal numbers of men and women and participants across all age groups over the age of 18 from every Australian state and territory.
In order to keep the biases away, researchers conducted the survey without any mention of Covid-19 or mental health during study recruitment.
Since the survey occurred in the early stages of the pandemic, only 36 participants reported having received a Covid-19 diagnosis or having had a close contact who had been diagnosed.
There were also relatively few people who had been tested, had self-isolated or who had known anyone who had any of these experiences. Surprisingly, these cases of Covid-19 contact showed no link to mental health impacts, the study said.
In contrast, financial distress and disruptions to work and social activities were significantly associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. This was coupled with lower psychological wellbeing.
However, the researchers found that working from home wasn't associated with any negative effects.
Younger population
Higher rates of mental health symptoms were also found among people who were younger, identified themselves as female or who reported having a pre-existing mental health condition.
“We hope that these data highlight that the way countries manage Covid-19 is likely to impact their population's mental health, beyond those most directly affected by the disease,” Dawel mentioned.
“It's important that governments and policymakers recognise that minimising social and financial disruption should also be a central goal of public health policy,” she added.