The pandemic has had a dramatic effect on the mental health of people the world over. Not only has COVID created an increase in anxiety and depression, but it’s even spawned new kinds of pandemic-centric anxiety. A new study suggests that the increase in anxiety disorders during the pandemic is definitely gendered. It’s not exactly a shocker that women have disproportionately borne the brunt of pandemic-spawned mental health issues, but some of the stressors that researchers found at the root of peoples’ anxieties are pretty surprising.
The study, which was published today in the Journal of Affective Disorders, analyzed almost 4,000 surveys conducted across Canada. Researchers found that in the first year of the pandemic, about one in seven Canadians experienced the symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). That’s almost 14% of individuals who participated. For context, the rate of GAD in Canada was about 2.6% before the pandemic, EurekAlert reported.
