Mental health did not decline during COVID-19 pandemic: comprehensive study
CTV
A study led by Montreal researchers has found that, contrary to common belief, mental health issues did not decrease in any significant way during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A McGill University-led study found that, contrary to many other reports, the COVID-19 pandemic has not taken a great toll on most people's mental health. Billed as the "world's most comprehensive study on COVID-19 mental health," the research team included members from McMaster University, the University of Toronto and others. It looked at data from 137 other studies in multiple languages from around the globe, primarily from high or middle-income countries. Three-quarters of the participants were adults, and a quarter were between 10 and 19 years old.
"Claims that the mental health of most people has deteriorated significantly during the pandemic have been based primarily on individual studies that are 'snapshots' of a particular situation, in a particular place, at a particular time," said lead researcher Brett Thombs. "They typically don't involve any long-term comparison with what had existed before or came after."
It was the most comprehensive study of its kind.
Thombs said the findings were a surprise.
"We thought like everybody else that there would be a lot bigger impact on mental health in the pandemic," he told CTV News.
The researchers found that the mental health symptoms of the population as a whole changed very little from before the pandemic to during the height of it when restrictions, curfews, lockdowns, mask mandates, vaccine passports and other policies were in place.
Thombs said that the study shows the resilience of people, no matter where they live, to navigate changes to their routines and sometimes even thrive when shifted out of their routines.
