By Peter Warrington
Public Health England: COVID-19: mental health and wellbeing surveillance report (Updated 17th December 2020)
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report
“Average mental distress (measured using GHQ-12) was 8.1% higher in April 2020 than it was between 2017 and 2019” https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/14874
“The proportion of people experiencing sleep problems increased from 16% before the pandemic to 25% in April 2020”
“The proportion of adults who reported a level of psychological distress above a set threshold increased from 24.3% between 2017 and 2019 to 37.8% in April 2020, before dropping to 34.7% in May 2020 and 31.9% in June 2020”
“Young adults (aged between 18 and 34, depending on the study) and women were more likely to report worse mental health and wellbeing during the first national lockdown than older adults and men”
“One study has found that Black, Asian and Minority Ethnicity (BAME) men (when grouped together) reported a larger deterioration in mental health than White British men during the first national lockdown.”
“Adults with pre-existing mental health conditions have reported higher levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness than adults without pre-existing mental health conditions. However, there is no evidence to suggest that this gap has changed since the start of the first national lockdown.”
Children and young people:
“There is evidence that coronavirus (COVID-19) and related interventions, such as social distancing and stay at home guidance including school closures, have likely had a negative effect on some children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing during the March to May 2020 period.”
“It is unknown how long any impacts might last. There is evidence of some improvement since the most difficult periods for children and young people’s mental health. There is also evidence that many children and young people seemed to have coped well. Life satisfaction appears to have only slightly reduced and children and young people’s happiness appears to have been relatively stable.”
“Within the March to July period, there are indications of an increase in emotional, behavioural and restlessness or attention difficulties, and of increased anxiety and depression.”
“In April 2020, almost half of 16 to 24 year olds showed new symptoms of psychological distress. This age group were also the most likely to report new symptoms in May 2020. This group have also reported feeling relatively more anxious over the summer months, when adults’ reported anxiety was reducing.”
“In 2020, one in six (16.0%) children and young people aged 5 to 16 years were identified as having a probable mental disorder, increasing from one in nine (10.8%) in 2017.”
“In a non-representative survey of children and young people with a history of mental health needs, 61% said returning to school had a negative effect on their mental health. The young people valued seeing friends, teachers and returning to a routine. Yet, they were concerned about academic pressure, the virus, social distancing measures and reduced mental health support.”
“Analysis of the UK Household Longitudinal Study suggests than young females (aged 16 to 24) experienced a greater increase in mental health symptoms in April 2020 than males of the same age.”
“Some evidence suggests that children and young people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds have experienced a higher rate of mental health and wellbeing concerns.”
“The figures below are taken from UCL COVID-19 Social Study. Most show that women tend to report worse mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic than men.”
“the prevalence of anxiety in young adults after easing COVID-19 restrictions has remained high - almost double the pre-pandemic levels”
“Younger adults are reporting both worse symptoms and a larger deterioration in mental health. On average, older age groups appear to have been less affected so far.”
“Women reported worse symptoms and a larger deterioration in mental health after the onset of the pandemic than men.”
The Health Foundation: Non-COVID-19 NHS care during the pandemic (12th December 2020)
“The overall number of appointments dropped sharply from April 2020 compared with the previous year, but has since recovered. In October, there were 2 million fewer overall appointments than in October 2019, but there were still 7 million fewer face-to-face appointments than in the same month in 2019.”
“There were large falls in the numbers of people attending A&E at the beginning of the pandemic, with visits to major emergency departments down by 48% in April 2020 compared with the same month in 2019.”
“There was a 60% fall in the numbers of people referred by their GP for suspected cancer in April 2020 compared with the same month the previous year. Referrals for suspected cancer have since recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but overall there have been 333,665 fewer referrals to date (October) this year compared with 2019.”