According to a recent scientific brief released in March 2022 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the global pandemic triggered a 25% increase in the ‘global prevalence of anxiety and depression’. And of those countries surveyed, 90% of them have added mental health and psychosocial support to their response plans – although the briefing states there are still ‘major gaps and concerns’.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General explains: “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.”
The WHO briefing highlights that one major factor is due to social isolation that people faced during COVID-19, as people were unable to work, or see loved ones. This then led to a lack of emotional support and community engagement.
But this increase in anxiety and depression was also influenced by other factors, and the WHO briefing cites loneliness; a fear of infection; suffering and death for oneself and for loved ones; grief after bereavement and financial worries as other contributory reasons.
Most of us will have felt lonely or will feel lonely at some point in our lives and, according to Mind, feeling lonely is commonly ‘when our need for rewarding social contact and relationships is not met’.
Meaning people can live alone with little contact quite happily, while others may have many different social relationships but still feel lonely. And although loneliness is not technically a mental health problem, it can have a negative impact on you.
Mind also highlights research which has found that loneliness can increase the risk of specific mental health problems, such depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sleep problems and an increase in stress.
These can vary from person to person, but many life events can trigger feelings of loneliness:
Mind also highlights how some living circumstances can also affect particular groups, making them more vulnerable to feelings of loneliness, for example:
Mental Health Awareness Week was started by The Mental Health Foundation 21 years ago and is now one of the largest awareness weeks in the UK and worldwide. This year the annual event is taking place from Monday 9 May to Sunday 15 May.
Each year the week focuses on a specific theme, and this year it is ‘Loneliness’ with the aim to raise awareness of how loneliness impacts people in the UK, ways in which people can address loneliness and also how reducing loneliness can contribute to a ‘mentally healthy society’.
And it is no surprise that loneliness is this year’s theme, given the impact the global pandemic has had on our lives, in one way or another. However, we can all play a part in helping tackle this growing epidemic t