Abstract
This report reviews evidence on the social inequalities in mental health and wellbeing that
have been highlighted and intensified by COVID-19, assesses the likely mental health
consequences of the pandemic and responses to it in the short, medium and longer term,
and examines policies and practices that might mitigate these and promote resilience. We
first summarise the underpinning evidence on the social determinants of mental health and
on the social distribution of poor mental health prior to the pandemic. We then analyse
available evidence on the effects that the pandemic and associated policies have had on the
mental health of the UK population and the extent to which the mental health of particular
sections of the population has been negatively impacted, with a particular focus on the
impacts upon those sections of the population experiencing high levels of adversity. We
focus on a number of key areas: young people and adolescents; socio-economic status and
ethnicity; employment and precarity; social isolation for the over 65s, and impacts on
mental health services users with severe and enduring problems of mental health. We will
consider the gender variations in each of these areas, and, were appropriate, also consider
the particular impact on those who are already mental health service users, where
community support was already stretched to the limits pre-pandemic and has been even
further restricted and disrupted by the pandemic and the lockdown. On the basis of
available evidence, we consider the likely medium and long term effects of COVID-19 on
mental health in each of these groups. In the final section of the report, we make some
evidence based proposals on what should be done, by whom and when, to build resilience
by 2030.
have been highlighted and intensified by COVID-19, assesses the likely mental health
consequences of the pandemic and responses to it in the short, medium and longer term,
and examines policies and practices that might mitigate these and promote resilience. We
first summarise the underpinning evidence on the social determinants of mental health and
on the social distribution of poor mental health prior to the pandemic. We then analyse
available evidence on the effects that the pandemic and associated policies have had on the
mental health of the UK population and the extent to which the mental health of particular
sections of the population has been negatively impacted, with a particular focus on the
impacts upon those sections of the population experiencing high levels of adversity. We
focus on a number of key areas: young people and adolescents; socio-economic status and
ethnicity; employment and precarity; social isolation for the over 65s, and impacts on
mental health services users with severe and enduring problems of mental health. We will
consider the gender variations in each of these areas, and, were appropriate, also consider
the particular impact on those who are already mental health service users, where
community support was already stretched to the limits pre-pandemic and has been even
further restricted and disrupted by the pandemic and the lockdown. On the basis of
available evidence, we consider the likely medium and long term effects of COVID-19 on
mental health in each of these groups. In the final section of the report, we make some
evidence based proposals on what should be done, by whom and when, to build resilience
by 2030.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Type | Policy Report |
| Media of output | Evidence Review / Analysis |
| Publisher | British Academy |
| Number of pages | 60 |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Mar 2021 |
