A major study published in so distinguished a publication as the British Medical Journal (BMJ) might be regarded by some as a definitive verdict on an issue, but when it comes to a paper on the mental health impact of the pandemic, many experts are not convinced.
The paper in question, produced by a team of researchers from Canadian universities and focused on 137 studies of the experiences of people in affluent countries in Europe and Asia, indicated that there was an overall “high level of resilience” and only a “minimal to small” increase in conditions such as anxiety and depression.
However, many more people might need counselling in west London and other areas due to pandemic-related mental health problems than the study suggests, several experts told the Metro News.
Speaking to the paper, lead on Covid-19 for the Royal College of Psychiatrists Professor Richard Williams said: “Mental health services delivered an additional 1.6 million sessions during the first year of the pandemic alone,” noting this must be factored into any assessment of the “whole picture”.
He added that many of those impacted by Covid are only now getting diagnosed, which means data recorded thus far will not have captured the true picture.
Stephen Buckley, head of information at mental health charity Mind, was also sceptical. He described the findings as “very interesting”, but added: “However, they do not reflect the impact Mind witnessed in England and Wales during and after the pandemic.”
Even amid the overall positive tone of the BMJ paper the researchers noted older people, students, women and those from the LGBTQ communities were disproportionately affected.
The Metro News had orignally reported on the paper as a good news tale, but it was not alone in the media at subsequently picking up widespread scepticism.
For example, the Guardian ran a similar story, but then published an opinion piece by Professor Devi Sridhar, chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh, in which she noted that everyone’s experiences of the pandemic would have been different.
Therefore, she stressed, any study focused at the population level would fail to identify how bad the impact was on particular individuals.