People with prior mental ill health hit harder by pandemic disruption

People who had higher pre-pandemic levels of depression or anxiety have been more severely affected by disruption to jobs and healthcare during the pandemic, according to a new study co-led by UCL researchers. The study, published in The British Journal of Psychiatry and funded by UKRI, looked at data from 59,482 people who are surveyed regularly as part of 12 ongoing longitudinal studies in England. It found that people whose survey responses before the pandemic suggested higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms were 24% more likely to have had delays to medical procedures, 12% more likely to lose their job, and 33% more likely to have had disruption to prescriptions or medication during the first eight to 10 months of the pandemic than those with average levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. Those with more severe symptoms of depression or anxiety experienced a much greater likelihood of disruptions to jobs, income and healthcare, the study found. Dr Praveetha Patalay (UCL), senior author of the paper, said: "Our findings highlight that the wider health and economic impacts of the pandemic have been disproportionately experienced by those with mental health difficulties, potentially leading to worsening longer term outcomes, even post-pandemic, for those already experiencing poor mental health." Professor Nishi Chaturvedi (MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL), who co-leads the Covid-19 Longitudinal Health and Wellbeing National Core study, said: "The anxiety and depression experienced by the participants of the study go beyond the mental ill health reported to GPs and healthcare services.