China’s population suffered worse mental health problems during the Covid pandemic than other nations due to the government’s draconian restrictions and unpredictable restrictions, a study found.
While anxiety and depression have increased by 25 percent worldwide since the onset of the pandemic, the figure is much higher in China where millions of people have been under strict lock for months, studies show.
A national survey on the psychological consequences of the pandemic in China found that 35 percent of the 52,000 respondents experienced a number of mental health problems – including panic disorder, anxiety and depression – as a result of the unprecedented quarantine measures.
China has adhered to its strict ‘zero-covid’ approach which limits travel, tests entire cities and sets up extensive facilities to try to isolate every infected person. Restrictions start at buildings and neighborhoods, but are widespread across the city as the virus spreads.
While the strict approach has reduced case numbers, the harsh measures have caused a ‘collective psychological trauma’. The measures also sparked anger and even rare protests against the government.
Yu Lingna, a Chinese psychologist and founder of Tokyo-based Yingxintang, a psychological counseling service for people affected by the pandemic, told the South Morning China Post that people are ‘anxious or angry’.
People try to break out of the quarantine fence during the protest, amid a new round of Covid-19 restrictions, in Shanghai, China, on June 6
A person takes a swab test at a COVID-19 test site on June 14 in Beijing, China
“When will it all end?” is a cry that is often heard, ‘she said.
Yu added: ‘In the latest wave of this year, many Chinese people, especially young people and those who have no underlying diseases, had little concern about coronavirus. However, anxiety and panic are still common.
“They are concerned about shortages of necessities, living conditions in temporary quarantine hospitals, children under quarantine alone, pets left behind after owners have been sent to quarantine facilities, as well as financial pressures of reduced income.”
For those living in Shanghai, where officials imposed a two-month city-wide ban that lifted on June 1, the impact was severe – with many residents on the verge of depression.
A survey of more than 1,000 Shanghai residents, conducted in April, found that 40 percent of respondents felt depressed about two weeks after the city closed.
Yu said many residents in Shanghai developed ‘Covid fatigue’ after the two-month closure.
She said many people she consulted were disillusioned with social distancing measures and the strict lock-in measures – and some were now worried about their economic prospects.
“The pandemic has changed many people’s lives and jobs, leaving a collective psychological trauma that needs to be assimilated.”
The rigid and widely derived restrictions have led to food and medical aid shortages coupled with a wider – though probably temporary – impact on the national economy.
A boy looks through a quarantine barrier on June 21 in Shanghai, China
On June 4, workers spray disinfectant on colleagues in front of a residential area under a Covid-19 lock in Shanghai’s Huangpu district
The Lancet Journal highlighted the human cost of China’s zero-Covid policy in an editorial published earlier this month.
“These costs will continue to be paid in the future, with the shadow of mental illness adversely affecting China’s culture and economy for years to come,” it said.
“The Chinese government must act immediately if it wants to heal the wound that its extreme policy has inflicted on the Chinese people.”
Desperate, outraged citizens confronted authorities at barricades and online, shouting at their windows and banging pots and pans in a sign of their frustration and anger.
Some have turned to blockchain technology to protect videos, photos, and artwork around the subject from being deleted.
Communist authorities who tolerate no opposition tried to scrape such protests off the internet and blamed the protests, including the cracking down on cooking implements, on agitation by unidentified ‘foreign anti-China forces’.
In Beijing, officials implemented curbs to stop the spread of the Omicron wave during March to May – including a ban on eating in restaurants. The ban was lifted on June 7 in most parts of the city.
Zhou Na, 36, said she was so anxious to lose her job as a waitress at a Beijing restaurant that she had difficulty sleeping.
“I begged my manager to mark a few shifts for me so I could raise my family,” she told the newspaper.
‘Consumers are coming back, but the number is less than before. My employer announced a layoff plan because he said the business was lossless. ‘
For those struggling with poor mental health in China, they may not be able to access services because psychiatry and mental health services have traditionally been marginalized in the country – meaning there are limited resources available.
There are only 8.90 Chinese mental health workers per 100,000 population – compared to 20.6 in higher middle-income countries – according to WHO data.
A health worker wears a protective suit while giving a nucleic acid test to a woman at a test site outside a community that has been locked up due to a recent outbreak on June 21 in Beijing
A woman talks to a friend in quarantine through a fence amid a new round of locks, in Shanghai, China on June 4
Meanwhile, since June 29, Shanghai will gradually resume at restaurants in low-risk areas and areas without any community-level spread of COVID-19 during the previous week, a Shanghai government official said on Sunday.
The Chinese economic hub lifted a two-month closure by the city on June 1, but many businesses have been unable to offer indoor eateries since mid-March.
Shanghai did not report any new locally transmitted cases – either symptomatic or asymptomatic – for June 24 and June 25.
In Beijing, officials said it would allow elementary and high schools to resume personal classes and Shanghai’s top party boss declared victory over Covid-19 after the city reported no new local affairs for the first time in two months.
Beijing closed its transferred schools in early May and asked students to switch to online learning amid a rise in local COVID cases. Senior students at middle and high schools were allowed to return to classrooms from 2 June.