New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) provides an insight into the extent of the damage done to the nation’s mental health by a year of lockdowns. Most notably, the percentage of British adults who experienced some form of depression in the first months of 2021 was more than double that recorded before the first lockdown began. Here are the key findings:
Around one in five (21%) adults aged 16 years and over in Great Britain experienced some form of depression (indicated by moderate to severe depressive symptoms) in early 2021 (January 27th to March 7th), an increase from 19% in November 2020. Rates in early 2021 were more than double those observed before the coronavirus pandemic, where 10% of adults experienced some form of depression.
…Younger adults and people living with a child aged under 16 years had the largest increases in rates of depressive symptoms in early 2021, when compared with pre-pandemic levels.
For adults aged 16 to 39 years, rates in early 2021 were more than double (29%) when compared with before the pandemic (11%). In comparison, 10% of adults aged 70 years and over experienced some form of depression in early 2021, compared with 5% before the pandemic.
In early 2021, around one in three (35%) adults who reported being unable to afford an unexpected but necessary expense of £850 experienced some form of depression, compared with one in five (21%) adults before the pandemic. For adults who were able to afford this expense, 13% experienced depressive symptoms in early 2021, increasing from 5% before the pandemic…
After controlling for sex and other characteristics, when compared with those aged 70 years and over, younger adults continued to be more likely to experience some form of depression, with adults aged 16 to 29 years having the highest odds of all age groups.
At the same time, the quality of the treatment given to mental health patients has fallen because of the (lockdown-induced) difficulty – and, at times, impossibility – of in-person meetings. We recently covered a study that found that for some patients, video calls made matters worse.
The ONS report is worth reading in full.
Stop Press: The Mail has run a story about GPs’ “fears over a lockdown depression time bomb”.
To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.
Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.
We have allowed the people of Britain to become a nation of bloody wimps, no discipline, no fight!
They should be ashamed of themselves.
The government has purposefully assaulted the mind through lockdown and the accompanying communist doomsday cultist propaganda
Yes it’s gone on so long now a lot of people have been defeated.
Still never mind, plenty of prescriptions for profitable antidepressants
My guess is that this is an underestimate. I think other mental dysfunctions need also to be factored in. They may not be captured by the term ‘depression’ : OCD behaviours and anxiety (as well as the obvious hypochondria) come to mind.
The Goebbels and Mengele Memorial Brigade should never be forgiven for this.
… and if they did the dirty work because they genuinely believed in the mythical virulence of SARS-CoV-2, then they should be put of a job, because they are not very good at wider science.
It’s fashionable to be “depressed”.
No offence whatsoever to genuinely depressed people; my own mother had a nervous breakdown when I was 9 in 1958.
No, Philip, it’s not ‘fashionable’ any more than suicide.
My mother attempted to commit suicide,Rick so I certainly wouldn’t trivialise genuine depression but I apologise if I offended anybody.
It’s those who get “depressed” if they can’t go on holiday 3 times a year, have a new car every 12 months and if they can’t get their children into (in their opinion) the best schools.
The people who are not bothered if millions of others lose their businesses,homes and jobs by slavishly supporting lockdowns and restrictions on all our lives.
In other words, the sheep and collaborators.
Lockdown essentially abolished life and enjoyment of life.
The communist doomsday cultist propaganda is a continuous assault on the mind
They should never be forgiven but it should be unconstitutional for any government to use a “nudge unit” of any kind for any purpose. It’s probably immoral for elected representatives in a free democracy to use public money to try and change the behaviour of their own citizens, in any circumstances, even for “good” reasons, but the current madness shows that even if it’s not immoral, it should be ruled out as no government can be trusted not to abuse it.
Madam Guillotine is the people’s nudge back.
That opens up a whole can of worms, Julian. Namely what has been revealed as the massive lack of constitutional protection within a nominally ‘democratic’ society, and the terrible political as well as scientific illiteracy that underpins what is going on – even down to the basics, such as the fact that simple ‘majoritarianism’ isn’t ‘democracy’.
‘majoritarianism’ isn’t ‘democracy’
A crucial point, lost on most people. And what’s worse, the majority in this case has been partly manufactured and perpetuated by govt propaganda.
For “nudge” read “manipulate” or even “brainwash”.
Long term depression has been shown to cause permanent brain damage.
We are in ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ territory folks.
Yes – for the last 13 and a half months, and counting!
But they’re jolly cheery at Pfizer.
And the fizz is popping at Imperial.
While Hancock is dancing with joy.
Can’t make an omelette without breaking a few of the little people, eh?
Towards the end of last year, I started getting panic attacks. I felt claustrophobic and then that I didn’t want to be here any more. I felt trapped. I disagreed with the lockdowns and I worried about what it was all doing especially to my grandchildren. I felt I needed to escape and the only way was to end my life. It frightened me terribly. In my 68 years I’ve never felt like doing that despite going through dreadful times. I’d always had a glimmer of hope and knew that I’d get through. Now I felt no hope at all so what was the point was how I thought. My GP gave me a number for NHS counselling as I didn’t want to take medication. After months I was still waiting and getting worse. Luckily I was able to talk and cry to my husband and we found a private counsellor that we could just afford and she has helped a lot. Yesterday, after 6 months I was offered an NHS phone appointment. I’ve cancelled it and explained that it’s no good leaving people with such issues for so long. They don’t get better in their own. The person on the phone agreed with me but explained that there’s very little resources put into treating mental health in the NHS. I believe that there must be many people feeling like me. My main problem was and is that no one with the power to do something would listen to alternative views and what has happened made/makes no sense to me. I was also shocked that so many people were willing to give up so many freedoms so easily. Now I feel just a glimmer of hope. Just enough to keep me going but that all.
Rest assured you are not alone. I recognise everything you have said. A kindred spirit.
When the covid hysteria started I was acutely aware that it had the potential to damage my mental wellbeing. I took positive steps to protect my mental health in the face of it. Nevertheless, the never ending restrictions and being surrounded by compliant useful idiots has taken its toll.
I don’t suppose I will get into the statistics because, although I am struggling, I am not seeking help from the National Covid Service. (Lockdown Sceptics is the best therapeutic tool available!) I have some self-awareness but I believe there is a vast group of people unaware of the damage that has been done to them and who will pay the price in the future.