Study reveals mental health impact of Shanghai’s harsh Covid lockdown

Name: Shanghai reopens after two-month Covid lockdown, but how fast can life return to normal?
Uploaded: 2023-03-26T04:00:17.000Z
Duration: 3 min 46 s
Description: Shanghai reopens after two-month Covid lockdown, but how fast can life return to normal?

Researchers find prevalence of depression at 26 per cent and anxiety at 20 per cent – ‘substantially higher than previously observed estimates’

They say mental health problems more commonly seen among vulnerable groups such as migrant workers and young adults

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Shanghai’s near-empty roads in April last year, when residents were confined to their homes to contain the spread of Covid-19. Photo: Bloomberg

Vanessa Caiin Shanghai

Published: 12:00pm, 26 Mar 2023

A new study has shed light on the human cost of last year’s citywide Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai, finding a more serious impact than expected on the mental health of residents – especially young adults and migrant workers.

The researchers surveyed 3,230 residents across the city’s 16 districts for the study, asking them about their experience during the strict two-month lockdown that began in April 2022.

They found the prevalence of depression was at 26.1 per cent, anxiety was at 20.1 per cent and suicidal ideation 3.8 per cent while the city was shut down, according to the peer-reviewed paper published in the Journal of Affective Disorders last week.

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Shanghai reopens after two-month Covid lockdown, but how fast can life return to normal?

The team – from New York University Shanghai, NYU New York, Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and the University of North Carolina – said these were “substantially higher than previously observed prevalence estimates in Shanghai”.

They said mental health problems were more commonly observed among vulnerable groups such as migrants and young adults, and those with unstable employment.

The study also suggested that food insecurity was linked to an increased risk of mental health conditions. During the lockdown, 66.4 per cent of households surveyed reported moderate or severe food insecurity, as the harsh restrictions disrupted logistics and supply chains.

Shanghai authorities imposed the lockdown on the entire city of 25 million people to control its worst Covid outbreak since the start of the pandemic. The restrictions made it hard for residents to get food, medicine and other basic supplies as well as access to medical treatment, with vulnerable groups such as people with mental health issues particularly affected.