Half of young adults show symptoms of depression.
A quarter of young adults in Belgium is showing symptoms of depression, consistent with a health survey by national health institute Sciensano, which showed that psychological state issues are reported more than before the pandemic.
Sciensano’s latest health survey the seventh since the beginning of the widespread shows that while the psychological state of adult Belgians has improved compared to the previous survey in March, it is still “rather poor” compared to the normal situation, says project leader Stefan Demarest.
In June 2021, fifteen per cent of the adult population was suffering from clinical depression and sixteen per cent from a mental disorder. While these figures are five percentage points lower compared to the two previous studies, they remain five percentage points higher compared to before the crisis.
As the previous Coronavirus-19 surveys also showed, the frequency of those psychological state problems varies with age. Young adults (18-29 years) are still most suffering from anxiety (27 per cent) and depressive symptoms (24.5 per cent), while people over sixty-five years old are the least affected (7 per cent and 6 per cent respectively).
At the top of September or the beginning of October, the eighth survey will happen, and therefore the population’s psychological state is going to be assessed again, Demarest told the Beluga press agency.
As more social contacts are allowed and fewer people are socially isolated since then, it is not excluded that there could also be some improvement.
However, Demarest does not expect the figures to make a sudden improvement or deterioration.
“Mental health does not work with a good or bad switch,” Demarest said. “It could be a while months before we go back to normal, given possible new Coronavirus – 19 flare-ups and related measures to be taken.”
SOURCE
https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/185351/quarter-of-young-adults-show-symptoms-of-depression/