The Covid-19 pandemic has shone an understandable spotlight on the physical health of the world, with extreme measures implemented to try and reduce the harm caused by the virus.  These measures have, however, placed our mental health in peril.  New research from the University of Basel examines data from 78 countries from around the world to provide some insights into how people can survive lockdowns with their mental health intact.

“On the one hand, such drastic changes to daily routines can be detrimental to mental health,” the researchers explain. “On the other hand, because the entire population was more or less equally affected during the lockdown, it remained unclear whether this impact would occur.”

Mental wellbeing

The researchers surveyed around 10,000 people from 78 countries to understand how people’s mental wellbeing was coping during the Covid lockdown.

Around 10% of respondents revealed poor mental health, including stress, depression, and a generally pessimistic view of society.  Another 50% reported moderate mental health, which is widely believed to be a warning that further complications could easily materialize.

While generally speaking the results were similar around the world, there were one or two regional differences, with Turkey and Hong Kong reporting the highest stress levels, the USA the most depression, and general mental wellbeing being lowest in Italy and Hong Kong.  The countries that performed best included Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The researchers believe these differences might be due to a range of factors, including the national responses to the pandemic, political unrest, and the various cultural differences between nations.  It’s also likely that any outcomes from the pandemic will also play a big role, whether that’s a loss of income, access to basic supplies, or, of course, health issues.  It was common for social support, the ability to adapt flexibly to the situation, and higher education were buffers against mental health issues.

“Public health initiatives should target people without social support and those whose finances worsen as a result of the lockdown. Based on these results, interventions that promote psychological flexibility like acceptance and commitment therapy hold promise when it comes to mitigating the impact of the pandemic and lockdowns,” the researchers conclude. “Given the continued fluid development of the pandemic and its economic consequences, attention to people’s mental health remains important.”