Past the peak: navigating depression in the aftermath of COVID-19

The physical effects of COVID-19 on the human body have been well publicised. However, the significant impact of the current pandemic and associated bereavements, lockdown measures and a looming economic recession on the mental health of the general public (Pierce et al, 2020; Robinson, 2020) has taken a backseat despite its central importance (Mind, 2020).

Depression was already one of the commonest mental disorders in Great Britain, but new research has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an increase of mental distress in adults across the UK (Pierce et al, 2020). Building on this, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2020) show that the rate of depressive symptoms among people in Great Britain has doubled to nearly one in five adults (19.2%) as of June 2020 compared with pre-pandemic data from July 2019 to March 2020 of one in 10 adults (9.7%).