Coronavirus is fuelling mental health crisis as Brits turn to alcohol and gambling, experts warn

CORONAVIRUS is fuelling a mental health crisis as Brits turn to alcohol and gambling, experts are warning.

Researchers say lockdown has created a “perfect storm” of misery that may harm people’s mental health for years to come.

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And they have warned that increased social isolation, loneliness, stress and an economic downturn could trigger a surge in boozing, gambling and suicides.

Polling showed 20 per cent of people were worried for their mental health, with levels of anxiety particularly high.

A paper published in The Lancet Psychiatry by 24 academics called for urgent research to monitor the nation’s mental health in “real-time” and to establish the best at-home treatments.

It may involve phone apps or video consultations with a counsellor over Zoom or Skype and promoting the benefits of exercise.

The researchers say the Covid-19 pandemic could have a “profound” and “pervasive impact” on global mental health and is too serious to ignore.

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The Sun recently launched the You're Not Alone campaign to remind anyone facing a tough time, grappling with mental illness or feeling like there's nowhere left to turn, that there is hope.

Professor Rory O’Connor, from the University of Glasgow, said: “Increased social isolation, loneliness, health anxiety, stress and an economic downturn are a perfect storm to harm people’s mental health and wellbeing.

“If we do nothing we risk seeing an increase in mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression, and a rise in problem behaviours such as alcohol and drug addiction, gambling, cyberbullying or social consequences such as homelessness and relationship breakdown.

“The scale of this problem is too serious to ignore, both in terms of every human life that may be affected, and in terms of the wider impact on society.”

The scale of this problem is too serious to ignore

Professor Rory O’ConnorUniversity of Glasgow

The authors said frontline medical staff and vulnerable groups such as the elderly or those with existing mental health conditions should be prioritised for support.

Professor O'Connor said that urgent action could limit the impact of the pandemic. Only a fraction of research on Covid-19 to date has considered its effects on mental health.

The paper said that recovered coronavirus patients should be monitored for longer-term mental health problems, as the virus appeared to act on the nervous system as well as the lungs.

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Apps and digitally delivered programmes must be designed to protect people's mental health during the Covid-19 lockdown, they added.

Professor Matthew Hotopf, from King’s College London said their paper gives them a "research roadmap" to help protect our mental health at this uncertain time.

“We are calling for real time monitoring of mental health of the population to develop effective treatments," he said.

“This needs to be on a bigger scale than we have ever seen previously.

“Knowing what is happening in real time will allow us to respond by designing more user friendly and effective ways to promote good mental health while people are in their homes.”

Prof Ed Bullmore, from the University of Cambridge, added: “We need an unprecedented research response if we are to limit the negative consequences of this pandemic on the mental health of our society now and in the future.

“To make a real difference we will need to harness the tools of our digital age – finding smart new ways to measure the mental health of individuals remotely, finding creative ways to boost resilience and finding ways to treat people in their homes.

“This effort must be considered central to our global response to the pandemic.”

Duncan Selbie, chief executive of Public Health England, said the research blueprint was “so urgently needed”.

He said: “We are very conscious of the distress this pandemic is having on our daily lives.”

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The researchers also published results of a survey conducted by Ipsos Mori, which found that 20 per cent of people reported worries over mental health, with 11 per cent specifying anxiety.

Just last week, health leaders warned about the mental strain on doctors and nurses the coronavirus pandemic will have.

They raised fears that many NHS staff on the frontline against coronavirus will be left with PTSD - after working in such confronting conditions.

Dean of the faculty of Intensive Care Medicine at Leeds University Dr Alison Pittard said she was worried for the impact treating coronavirus patients was having on staff.

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She told : "I am really concerned about the toll this is taking and will continue to take on staff.

"We are used to dealing with emergencies, but we have never been exposed to this sort of demand.

"We know staff are struggling physically and mentally and that this will only continue."