The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that the global prevalence of anxiety and depression climbed by a whopping 25% in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with young people being the hardest hit.
A WHO report highlights those most affected by the pandemic and found that people with more severe mental disorders, such as psychoses, and young people with mental disorders, are particularly at risk.
WHO said it includes estimates from the latest Global Burden of Disease study, which shows that the pandemic has affected the mental health of young people and that they are “disproportionally” at risk of suicidal and self-harming behaviors.
“The information we have now about the impact of COVID-19 on the world’s mental health is just the tip of the iceberg,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“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,” Tedros added.
The report also indicates that women have been more severely impacted than men.
People with pre-existing physical health conditions, such as asthma, cancer, and heart disease, were more likely to develop symptoms of mental disorders, it said.
The report summarizes the pandemic’s effect on the availability of mental health services and how this has changed during the pandemic.
