People with mental illnesses report worsening symptoms during lockdown

People with pre-existing mental health conditions have reported challenges posed by the COVID-19 lockdowns, such as the loss of normal coping routines, barriers to accessing care, and unequal impacts of the pandemic, in a new study led by UCL researchers. The qualitative, interview-based study, published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology , shows that the impacts of lockdown were not distributed equally, and people in ethnic minority groups reported particular challenges. While studies such as UCL's Covid-19 Social Study have found that anxiety does not appear to be increasing across the UK population as a whole, the new findings suggest that many people who already had a mental health condition at the start of the pandemic are worse off due to lockdown's impacts. Co-lead author Dr Brynmor Lloyd-Evans (UCL Psychiatry) said: "When the UK first went into lockdown, there was a lot of speculation about impacts on mental health, but my colleagues and I felt that the voices of people who actually used mental health services weren't being heard - even though they were likely more vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic and lockdown. "By speaking to them directly, we learned that many people with mental health conditions lost access to their vital coping routines, while mental health care was disrupted for many as well. COVID-19 has been exacerbating health inequalities." The research team, based at UCL, City, University of London, and King's College London, interviewed 49 people in England and Wales who had a range of pre-existing mental health conditions, during the first COVID-19 lockdown between May and July.