Mental health: Five years on from pandemic, younger generations still struggling

Five years on from the Covid-19 pandemic, its impact on mental health and wellbeing is still being felt, especially on younger generations, research has argued.

With many across the UK marking the anniversary of the first lockdowns in March 2020 over the weekend, the Sapien Labs fifth Annual Mental State of the World Report has concluded that many adults aged under 35 continue to experience starkly diminished mental health and wellness.

The study has used data collected under the ‘MHQ’ assessment, a comprehensive online survey of mental function that provides an overall metric related to people’s ability to navigate the normal stresses of life and function productively.

While the worst of the pandemic may be behind us, data from eight English-speaking countries, tracked since 2019, showed a dramatic 30-point drop in MHQ among younger generations between 2019 and 2021, with no significant recovery since then.

Older adults (55+) across the globe are by and large doing well, with an average MHQ of 101 across 82 countries – close to the expected norm of 100, the study has argued.

Average MHQ in 46 countries exceeded 100, including in Finland and numerous Latin American countries.

However, younger adults (aged 18-34) had starkly diminished mental health. Across all countries, young adults had an average MHQ of just 38, with 41% experiencing “functionally debilitating distress”.

Symptoms include unwanted, strange, and obsessive thoughts, as well as a sense of detachment from reality.

Challenges with social and cognitive capacities were four- to five-fold higher in younger adults. These included in functions such as planning and organisation, speech and language, focus and concentration, social interaction and cooperation, relationships with others, and self-control and impulsivity.

“The root causes of these trends are multivariate and interconnected. They include smartphones and an increasingly socially disconnected culture as well as environmental and chemical exposures,” the study argued.

“Altogether the decline in younger generations is present across all countries irrespective of spending levels on mental health research and access to care, making a case to reorient our approach. We call for a redirection of research and research funding to deepen our understanding of the root causes, and to take bold steps that utilise this understanding for effective prevention,” it added.

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