WHO: Covid pandemic had ‘unprecedented’ impact on mental health
Copenhagen, Mar 10 (EFE).- The coronavirus pandemic pushed medical services across Europe to the limit and had an unprecedented impact on mental health, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
The pandemic and the restrictions enforced to curtail it, such as lockdowns and enforced social distancing, had a profound effect on mental health, with a surge of people suffering from loneliness, anxiety and depression, the WHO said in its latest European Health Report.
The largest decline in mental well-being was found in men aged 18-24 and women between 18-24 and 35-44.
One in three adults suffered psychological stress at the onset of the pandemic, the report added.
At the start of the pandemic, 40% of essential health services were at least partially disrupted by the spread of Covid-19, a pattern that continued into 2021 with 29% of services affected.
Some 48% of states in the WHO’s Europe region, which includes Russia and some Central Asian countries, reported interruptions in primary care services in 2021, 41% of which occurred in rehabilitation, palliative care and long-term care.
Cancer detection services dropped by 28% in Germany and 50% in France at the beginning of 2020, as the pandemic took hold in Europe, the report stated. EFE
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