A recent study by the OECD reveals that as many as one in six people felt the psychological effects of the pandemic. Furthermore, depressive disorders increased by a quarter on average. 

The Polish newspaper Dziennik Gazeta Prawna arrived at similar conclusions regarding the Polish population. 

The newspaper reminds that „the first effects of the impact of the pandemic on the mental state were visible already in the first months of 2020, i.e. at the beginning of the pandemic„.

„At that time, the estimated prevalence of depressive symptoms was more than twice as high as before the COVID-19 epidemic (…) Three groups were particularly affected – young people, the elderly and those suffering from chronic diseases. As emphasised by the authors of the OECD report, which looked at how countries dealt with the pandemic, young people, in particular, reported significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression during the pandemic compared to the general population,” the article reads. 

Dziennik Gazeta Prawna explained that the impact of the emergence of COVID-19 on the mental health of Poles is monitored, among others, by the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Warsaw.

“The university research shows that when the pandemic broke out, the highest levels of depression and anxiety (…) were experienced by young people aged 18-24” – the article says. 

According to the newspaper, the impact of the pandemic was so significant that it led many to develop symptoms of an “adjustment disorder, a reaction to a new situation that we cannot cope with.” 

„Depression was revealed in 26 per cent of respondents, symptoms of generalised anxiety – in 44 per cent, and over 2 per cent were diagnosed with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder,” Dziennik Gazeta Prawna reports. 

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen

Photo: Unsplash