Contrary to previous research, a new study suggests that cycling had a minimal effect on symptoms of depression and anxiety in the general population. The covid-19 pandemic may not have been as damaging to mental health as imagined, a new study indicates. published in the British Medical Journal.
Overall, the pandemic has caused minimal changes among the population in depression, anxiety and mental illness symptoms, compared to pre-COVID-19 times. The study, conducted by researchers at McGill University in Canada, includes data from 137 other surveys conducted in various countries around the world.
Brett Thombs, a professor of psychiatry at McGill University and lead author of the research, says he is concerned about the lack of support for claims of a “mental health tsunami” during the pandemic.
“There’s no comparison of what people were like before and during the pandemic. They say 30 percent of the population has experienced mental health issues during the pandemic, but we see those kinds of statistics all the time,” Thombs tells DW.
Thombs and a team of researchers analyzed all the studies they could find on mental health before the pandemic, as well as continuing to monitor the same participants. The survey included data from more than 30 countries, mostly upper-middle income nations. No distinction was made between those who had or did not have covid-19.
“We have seen no changes or minimal changes in the general population in terms of anxiety, depression and general symptoms of mental illness. We are very confident that a mental health catastrophe has not occurred,” Thombs explains.
controversial study
However, some experts say this new study fails to take into account that some individuals’ mental health problems have been exacerbated during the pandemic.
“Because this is population-based data, the study does not represent the issues many individuals faced during the pandemic. For example, there was no difference between people who had covid, or long covid, from those who they didn’t have it,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Washington in the United States.
According to Al-Aly, there are studies showing that people who have had covid multiple times, or long covid, have developed significantly worse mental health problems than those who have not been infected with the coronavirus.
Aggregating the overall data, Al-Aly points out, indicates that significant changes in the mental health of these individuals, among other things, have been overlooked.
Women were slightly more affected
The study indicates that rates of anxiety, depression and general mental health symptoms during the pandemic were higher in women. However, in “minimum or small quantities”.
“Because we’ve seen small population-level changes, we can actually be pretty sure that women experienced worse mental health than men. This is worrying,” warns Thombs.
Depression symptoms also worsened minimally in older people, college students, parents, and those who identified as part of minorities.
But with the aggregated data, how are “minimal” changes in an individual’s depression perceived? According to Thombs, it’s a mix.
“We rate changes in symptoms based on regular questionnaires, so it’s likely that some people notice and feel changes, but others don’t. We may also have recorded small differences that an individual may not even be aware of,” Thombs said.
Mental health is an individual matter
The researchers concluded the study by acknowledging that “some population groups have mental health problems that differ from the general population or other groups.” They also called on governments to ensure greater support for mental health to meet the needs of the population.
Clinical epidemiologist Al-Aly takes a less positive view and was cautious about interpreting the data “because it may lead some people to overlook those who have had real problems during the pandemic.”
Source: Terra

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