Since March 2020, most of our lives have been drastically affected by the worldwide pandemic. Switzerland has already gone through two major lockdowns and during that period there have been countless changes in the rules and restrictions concerning Covid. Strict pandemic prevention measures, the mandatory closure of schools and the suspension of all nonessential productions and commercial activities seriously affected people’s daily life. The lack of social contact has led many people to be diagnosed with an anxiety disorder or depression, especially the younger generation. Statistics in Zurich show that around June/July 2020 more young people started seeking professional help and requiring prescribed medicines. The ISPP Zurich (Institute for Systematic Psychology&Psychotherapie), that opened during the pandemic, beginning of autumn 2020, was fully booked after only a month and they have continued to receive new requests from patients / their doctors throughout the year, says Dr.Stefania Vanzetti, a federally recognized psychotherapist at the ISPP.
Experiences such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts have been more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for youths and young adults. “Furthermore, the pandemic may have intensified social anxiety among individuals who already had symptoms or were already socially inhibited before 2020. Indeed, being in lockdown means missing positive social experiences that could reduce symptoms of anxiety (concept of so-called ‘exposition’)”, a mental health professional from Zurich explains. “Positive social experiences activate our reward system in the brain and physical contact cause our brain to release oxytocin — these mechanisms are important for our well-being and psychological resilience (= strength in stressful situations). That’s why social contact is an important protective factor for the development of mood and anxiety disorders. Social isolation during the pandemic may have a negative impact on our brain, increasing the risk for psychological problems in the population.”
As Dr. Vanzetti told me, in different stages of life, our brain develops the social area individually. During the pandemic our stress levels and fear of contagion significantly grew, which threatened many people’s mental health.
Symptoms, such as anxiety and depression, caused by refraining oneself from external contact and going out, because of the fear of COVID-19, have led to an increase in suicide rates. With the worldwide virus spread, suicide rate and suicide attempts have significantly increased at times. Setting up a theory about the rates and statistics for suicide during the pandemic nevertheless is too early, as it still is not over and not all lives, we lost to suicide, were caused by COVID. However as far as we know, statistics do show that since the beginning of 2020 the suicide rate rose to 8% in young females and 2% in males.
During the lockdown, however, having weekly sessions at the office was not feasible.
Young adults were forced to try to help themselves because there was no other possibility. In the past two years, people started setting up online help groups and hotlines, if people needed it. On various social media channels, young adults talk about their mental health during the pandemic quite openly, in the hope of having a positive influence on the people in need or even danger. Social isolation, anxiety, fear of contagion, uncertainty and chronic stress have led to the development or worsening of depression, anxiety, substance use, and other psychiatric disorders in many young adults between the ages 15 and 19.
“The pandemic may have a negative impact on the long-term psychological and affective development on children and adolescents, but especially on those with low family support,” says Dr.Vanzetti “A supportive family environment can compensate the lack of social interactions outside, increase resilience and help children to build further social skills even during lockdown.”
