Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder were already huge contributors to the worldwide burden of disease, impacting millions of individuals across the globe. Now, a recent study has found that the coronavirus pandemic has caused a significant increase in major anxiety and depressive disorders globally.
For this study, researchers identified more than 5,600 unique sources of data, almost 50 of which met the inclusion criteria. Most of the studies included were from North America and Western Europe, with a few from Central Europe, East Asia, the Asia-Pacific and Australasia also included in the analysis.
The analysis led researchers to discover that decreased movement of individuals and higher rates of coronavirus infection were linked to heightened prevalence of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder. These observations suggest that countries which were most affected by the coronavirus pandemic last year would have the highest increases in prevalence of the aforementioned disorders. In addition, the research also suggests that in figures, the pandemic increased global cases of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder to more than 75 million and 53 million respectively.
In their report, the researchers explain that countries impacted the most by the pandemic last year recorded the highest increases in cases of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder. They insist that policy makers and governments strengthen mental health systems around the globe in order to meet this rise in demand caused by the pandemic.
University of Queensland’s Dr. Damian Santomauro, lead author of the study, stated that improving the treatment of individuals who develop mental disorders, targeting factors which contribute to poor mental health and promoting the well-being of individuals should be at the core of efforts to improve mental health support services.
While he did concede that meeting the additional demand for mental health care services brought about by the coronavirus would be challenging, Santomauro added that even before COVID-19, mental health-care systems in most nations had, historically speaking, been disorganized and under resourced with regard to delivering their services.
Thus far, no research had conducted an analysis of the global effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the prevalence of anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder in 2020. The study, which was reported in the “Lancet,” highlights that the most affected population was younger people, women in particular. The findings show that more than 34 million of the additional cases were in women, which is significantly higher when compared to the 17 million cases impacting men.
As psychiatric disorders become more prevalent, companies such as Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN) are searching for a new class of remedies that offer superior treatment outcomes while also addressing the root causes of those conditions rather than just their symptoms.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN
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