The full extent of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on mental health most likely won’t be completely understood for years, or even decades, to come.
But here’s what we do know: The pandemic highlighted and exacerbated the global mental health crisis, irrevocably altering how we think about and address mental health as a whole.
In a seven-country survey by the International Committee of the Red Cross, 51% of adults reported COVID-19 negatively affected their mental health. In the same survey, almost two-thirds of respondents agreed that taking care of both their mental and physical health has become more important now than before the COVID-19 crisis.
So, what’s changed? (And more importantly, how do we build on those lessons for the future?)
We’re talking about it.
The conversation around mental health has been elevated to a national stage since the onset of the pandemic. More people are speaking openly and honestly about their mental health symptoms and struggles. As a result, in the long-term, we can hope to see a decrease in stigma related to mental health concerns and conditions.
“I think we’ve shifted from what some would call precontemplation to contemplation about mental health and mental wellbeing,” said Dr. Roger McIntyre, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Toronto. “The first step has been a collective recognition of the importance of mental health, which certainly was apparent to some people before COVID, but I think the percentage of people having that conversation over the dinner table has considerably increased.”
Mental health is no longer an individual health issue – it’s a public one.
“Our health is not just simply our physical health,” Dr. McIntyre said.
And many doctors agree: our mental health crisis is a public health crisis, and should be treated as such.
This translates to the need for legislative action around achieving mental health parity, or the equal treatment of mental health conditions and substance use disorders in insurance plans on par with physical health services. In addition, public health officials recommend bolstering the mental healthcare workforce and ensuring all people have access to affordable, culturally-competent, quality healthcare.
The inequities in mental healthcare and beyond were put under a microscope.
The pandemic highlighted the existing inequities in our mental healthcare system for people of color, the working class, and other disadvantaged groups.
We know that, on average, racial and ethnic minority populations report experiencing mental health problems at the same rate as whites. But barriers, including lack of access, discrimination and stigma, prevent these communities from getting the high-quality mental health care they need and deserve. This has spurred some leaders to declare racism itself a public health crisis.
To address this, legislative action is needed to increase access to care and ensure all populations see their communities represented in health care providers.
Mental healthcare went virtual.
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted or halted critical mental health services in 93% of countries worldwide while the demand for mental health services increased significantly, according to a survey by the World Health Organization.
Clinicians rapidly worked to transition to virtual delivery methods, which in turn increased access and in some cases, the speed at which services were available. Insurers also began to cover the costs associated with telehealth visits, further legitimizing the medium.
It’s likely virtual services are here to stay, Dr. McIntyre says.
We’ve collectively recognized the need for systemic change.
Despite the ebb in COVID-19 cases, its mental health ramifications remain.
In an ongoing survey from March 2020-21 done by the Kaiser Family Foundation, roughly half of all respondents said worry or stress related to coronavirus has had a negative impact on their mental health. Even as COVID cases dropped, people continued to report feelings of worry, stress and anxiety.
“Some of the positives coming out of this has been greater awareness around mental health, less stigma, improved virtual access, improved timely access, and also I think we’re going to see an attempt to integrate mental health more into overall healthcare,” Dr. McIntyre said.
Now, the challenge is keeping up the momentum.
“Covid is going to come to an end at some point; it seems hard to imagine, but it will. And when it does, we need to make sure we do not allow mental health to lose its spotlight. That’s the most important takeaway.”
