Experts warn of the lasting impact of the coronavirus pandemic on mental health

The long-term effects of the coronavirus

pandemic on people’s mental health will not be known for years, experts have warned.

Chris Badger, Director of Adult Care Services at Hertfordshire County Council, and Alison Wilson, CEO of Mind in West Essex, agreed that it’s impossible to determine the lasting impact of the pandemic on mental health. They have both expressed major concerns but said that the effects on people’s lives will vary.

“It’s different for everybody,” Wilson said, “we can’t underplay the effects that the pandemic will have, but for many people, the long-term struggles with mental health might not be so big”.

In a separate interview, Badger said he found anxiety to be one of the most prevalent issues. “Anxiety stemming from the impact of lockdowns, furlough, social contact, children, and fear of getting the virus,” he said. He explained that loneliness was another “main issue” that the council have been dealing with.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics show that 5% of people in the UK said that they felt lonely “often” or “always”, in a survey conducted between 3rd April and 3rd May last year. This figure increased to 7.2% between October 2020 and February 2021.

“During the first wave, in particular, we couldn’t open the day centres for people with learning disabilities,” said Badger. After an initial decline, the service saw higher demand for support following the first lockdown, for example, for those with learning disabilities and their carers.

The council’s £400m yearly expenditure on adult care services increased by approximately £50m

throughout the pandemic, and Badger stressed that the majority of struggles stemmed from

mental health issues. A crucial factor has been restrictions on care home visits, he said.

The service adapted by offering support remotely via video calls, but Badger said, “the lack of social contact has had a profound impact on people’s mental health”. He said evidence also suggests an expected increase in depression and eating disorders.

Likewise, Wilson’s organisation saw an increase in people struggling with loneliness and anxiety after an initial dip in referrals during the first national lockdown.

“People were worried about staying safe at first and where they would buy their food,” she said. Then the “anxiety around jobs, money and safety became heightened”, and “loneliness became a real issue”.

Mind offers a befriending service that matches people with a “befriender” who meets or calls with them regularly. Wilson explained the befriending service has been busier throughout the pandemic however their “peer support services became less busy” as new digital groups could not replace face-to-face contact for many.

The services offered by Mind, including peer support and counselling, are fee-paid. “There has already been more demand but I think that if our service was free, we would have more people trying to get counselling,” said Wilson.

Wilson said that financial issues have heavily contributed to the rise in anxiety during the pandemic. She stated that their partners in Uttlesford had seen a significant increase in people accessing food banks and financial support.

Research conducted by Mind showed that the mental health of over half of adults and over two-thirds of young people declined during the lockdown in spring of last year. Loneliness affected the mental health of two-thirds of the 14,421 people surveyed.

A resident at Ashwood Care Home, New Rd, Ware, Christine Wannell, said that isolation has been “extremely distressing”.

She said: “I was staring at four walls, with only a TV to keep me sane”. Wannell was transferred to the care home after being discharged from the hospital during the third lockdown. She had to isolate for 14 days upon arriving without visitors.

Wannell was initially only allowed one designated visitor but has now increased to two. “Some days, I don’t wake up until late afternoon because I feel so depressed. I miss my family,” she said.

Wilson stressed that “the mental health issues affecting most people will improve once the pandemic is over, but others will still suffer the effects”.