The Rise of Depression During the Pandemic

 By Mayumi Soul

During the pandemic, more and more people have found themselves feeling alone, depressed, and/or hopeless. To many people, everything seems to be crumbling down and adding weight to their shoulders. With each negative thing in the world, more weight is added. The pandemic, protests, discrimination, lack of social contact, and everything else just adding pressure to people and leading their mental state to a point where they feel major anxiety and symptoms of depression. Many mental hospitals everywhere have been at maximum capacity and psychologists and psychiatrists all over the world have been saying that this mental health pandemic should be taken just as seriously as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Depression and anxiety are already serious issues, but now during the pandemic the amount of people that have gotten these mental disorders has skyrocketed. Many psychologists have been finding out that there has been a very large rise in cases of depression. Knowing about mental disorders such as depression and anxiety is very important, because it can help us have knowledge of how to help ourselves and others when they’re going through a depressive episode, or having an anxiety attack, or anything else of the sort.

The Covid-19 pandemic was an unexpected shock to billions of people all over the world. With it has come sickness, controversy, and another pandemic that not many people have taken as seriously as Covid. Psychologists and psychiatrists have declared the significant rise in depression, anxiety, and suicide a “mental health pandemic”.

     

     Many people have been losing their jobs and isolating themselves, which has led to many feeling alone, depressed, and anxious. 22 year old Philaé Lachaux who was interviewed by the New York Times has said “The pandemic feels like a big stop in our lives.. One that puts us so low that I wonder, ‘What’s the point?’” Many people have felt a similar way to Lachaux, and because of this, school guidance counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists everywhere are becoming overwhelmed with the amount of cases of depression, anxiety, self harm, and suicide.

     The demographic that is mostly affected is 18 to 24 year olds. According to the New York Times, “In the United States, a quarter of 18- to 24-year-olds said they had seriously considered suicide, one report said.” It is thought that this age group is affected because they are in the prime of their lives. Because of the pandemic, they can’t do anything that they would like to do while they’re young. They can’t live their lives freely as they usually would during that age.

     Catherine Seymour, head of research at the Mental Health Foundation, has said that young people living in poorer households are more likely to experience anxiety and depression, according to a study conducted. According to her, “It may be that those in poorer households are more likely to lack enough space and internet access to help with schoolwork and communication with their friends, they may also be affected by their parents’ financial worries and stress.” 

People who have less money have even more to worry about, because of financial issues, the pandemic, personal struggles, and more. All of these things can really pile up on someone and mess with their mental health.

     Some things that many mental health professionals have suggested can help with depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and more is to first try to talk to the suicide hotline. The hotline is not just for people who want to commit suicide. Many people who just needd someone to talk to go to the suicide hotline. If that doesn’t help, another way is to be productive with your free time. According to the New York Presbyterian, you should “Ask yourself: ‘What’s the problem? I’m bored, I’m in isolation. OK, so I could exercise, I can contact people, I can make plans and do chores. I can look at this as a challenge to identify short-term and long-term goals.’' One more way that you can try to help yourself is to reframe your perspective. 

The New York Presbyterian also says “It’s OK to feel upset and to acknowledge to yourself and to others these are difficult times. Yet this could be an opportunity to think about what you value or really want to do with your life. If you look at this period as intentional practice of not going out to restaurants and bars, you may realize you can thrive without those routines.” There are many other ways that can help someone feel better about life right now, such as doing a hobby, talking to people (it can be online if not face to face), and more. 

Always remember that if you, the reader, feel depressed, anxious, hopeless, or anything else of the sort, you are not alone. Things won’t stay like this forever, and there are a lot of people who care.