Coronavirus: ‘Anxiety Rose After Lockdown Was Introduced’

Psychologists at Ulster University (UU) are researching how measures taken to limit the spread of Covid-19 have been affecting mental health.

They are working with colleagues at the University of Sheffield on the joint study.

It involves a representative sample of 2,000 people across the UK.

Their initial findings suggest levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms rose after “lockdown” measures were introduced on 23 March.

However, the numbers of those who reported experiencing anxiety and depressive symptoms declined in subsequent days.

So far, 30 people of 689 who tested positive for Covid-19 in Northern Ireland have died.

Participants in the psychological survey answered questions about their current circumstances, their understanding of Covid-19, what they were doing to cope and their mental health.

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The academics involved in the study will contact the participants regularly to see how their experiences and mental health change as the pandemic progresses.

Prof Mark Shevlin, Prof Jamie Murphy and Dr Orla McBride from UU’s School of Psychology are the Northern Ireland-based academics involved.

Other experts have provided reaction to the study’s findings on the Science Media Centre website.

Prof Elaine Fox of the University of Oxford said the survey was “timely” and that it showed there was a “good degree of resilience” in the population.

She said studies of this type were “very important to give us regular snap-shots of what is happening in the population as we move through this crisis”.

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