The Mental Health Burden Associated With COVID

(Pexels/Adrianna Calvo)

 

"It definitely was a surprise. The elderly ... were thought to be most at risk of contracting COVID and having severe complications ... "

"They certainly are more likely to have built some level of resilience, and are not expecting the very worst-case scenarios."

Dr.Vincent Agyapong, psychiatry professor, University of Alberta

 

"Young people are doing especially badly, probably related to loneliness and maladaptive coping strategies." 

"Although older people are more prone to virus infection/complications, I would not expect them to be worse off psychosocially."

"The link between economic/employment security and mental health -- which is a powerful hazard at this time -- is not generally applicable to older people."

Dr.Roger McIntyre, psychiatry professor, University of Toronto

Published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the Alberta study led by Dr.Agyapong surveyed 8,300 individuals who had downloaded the province's Text4Hope app which sends out text messages to users with the designed purpose of offsetting negative feelings during the time of the global pandemic -- in the population at large among whom some choose to make use of the app for that very specific purpose.

Of the 9,011 Canadians who had lost their lives as a direct or indirect result of COVID-19 to date, close to 97 percent were aged 60 and over. The Alberta research study suggests that it is in fact, people under age 25 who are most at risk of becoming seriously anxious, depressed or stressed over the coronavirus and its fallout, affecting their lives negatively.

The survey respondents admittedly represent a 'snapshot', failing to statistically reflect the makeup of Canada's general population, according to Dr.Agyapong, but the apparently counterintuitive findings do match the type of young patients he has been exposed to at a drop-in mental-health clinic in Edmonton. There are, he suggests, a number of logical explanations for the research findings.

For one thing, older people build up over a long life greater psychological firmness to the economic uncertainly individuals everywhere are facing, particularly those entering adulthood at a time of deep recession. The study was interesting, but not completely surprising to another expert studying the mental-health fallout of the pandemic and lockdown.

According to Dr.McIntyre those under 40 years of age and students are at high risk for depressive symptoms, reflected by a recent 'meta-analysis' of pandemic studies published by himself and colleagues in another study which was recently published. Along with Chinese researchers, Dr.McIntyre found an increase in depressive symptoms among Wuhan residents, depending on the amount of time spent on social media during the pandemic.

The authors of the second study hold the spread of COVID-19 misinformation over online platforms at fault; possibly amplifying panic and resulting in risky behaviours. In the Alberta study of the 823 respondents age 25 and under, 96 percent demonstrated moderate or high stress, 66 percent signs of anxiety disorder, and 67 percent major depressive disorder; representing the highest levels of four age groups.

Of the 475 respondents in the 60-and-over group, rates were 68 percent for stress, 23 percent for anxiety and 26 percent for depression --  the lowest affected levels of the groups. It can be generally acknowledged that younger people struggle with the fact that their more mobile active lives have been disrupted by the virus and lockdowns; schools closing, part-time work evaporating and gyms shuttered, notes Dr.Agyapong.

Whereas for older people, in particular those who have retired from the active workforce, they have less economic uncertainty to face, and have acquired experience in dealing with adversity at various levels.The Text4Hope app appears to be helping to generate positive feedback that Dr.Agyapong and his colleagues plan to mine for content in forthcoming journal papers.

The Text4Hope program has drawn attention from other quarters facing the very same dilemma of downward spiralling mental health leading to two states in Australia discussing how they might also set up their own version. As a result of the study and its publication, Dr.Agyapont has been receiving calls and emails expressing interest from the United States as well.

The positive feed back for the Text4Hope app appears to be helping people, on the evidence of the positive feedback that Dr.Agyapong and his colleagues have been receiving, and which has inspired them to plan to report on it in additional journal papers for publication.

"We can be unhappy about many things, but joy can still be there. It is important to know that at every stage of our life, we have an opportunity to choose joy", read one recent app-generated message.