GERMAN MENTAL HEALTH WORSENED DURING 2ND LOCKDOWN: STUDY

Initial results from a research study have found that "life satisfaction has decreased significantly." Will this improve once the second shutdown is lifted? Researchers are unsure, Deutsche Welle reported.

People living in Germany are struggling with their mental health more during the current shutdown than they had during the first, according to interim research results published by Saarland University on Saturday. Researchers at the university have been monitoring 1,500 men and women for a year to measure the psychological and social consequences of the coronavirus pandemic.

The time period has spanned two lockdowns — the first in mid-March to mid-April 2020 and the second, which began in mid-December and is ongoing. Both lockdowns have seen much of public life curtailed, including the closures of schools, public institutions as well as shops and gastronomy businesses except for takeaway.

"Life satisfaction has decreased significantly — worries, stress and depressiveness have increased," research group leader Dorota Reis told the German news agency DPA. People's assessments of society have also "changed drastically," Reis said.

During the first lockdown, the study participants initially reported that society was moving closer together. They now assessed behavior as "rather selfish and drifting apart," Reis added.

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