Speculation about easing lockdown has increased stress levels around COVID-19

Stress about catching and becoming seriously ill from COVID-19 has risen over the last week amid growing speculation that the UK may ease lockdown restrictions, according to the UK's largest survey of adults' wellbeing and mental health during the coronavirus epidemic led by UCL. The Covid-19 study has found that stress levels are higher among those living with children than those without. The findings also show that although life satisfaction ratings had been returning to pre-Covid-19 levels this improvement has now halted following discussions around exit from lockdown. Levels are notably lower in people living in urban areas, where anxiety and depression levels have also been worse. Funded by the Nuffield Foundation with additional support from Wellcome and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the study now has over 80,000 participants. This week's findings are also broken down by gender, those living with children, those who are keyworkers and those living in rural areas, in addition to previous reporting by age, mental health diagnosis, income and whether people live alone or not. Lead author, Dr Daisy Fancourt (UCL Epidemiology & Health Care) said, "Over the past week we have seen stress levels rise and the slight improvement in wellbeing we had seen since lockdown started has plateaued as discussions around an exit have begun.