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Hidden Harm: World Saw Spike in Anxiety, Depression in Covid’s First Year

  • WHO analysis indicates young people, women at greater risk
  • Figures show ongoing toll of isolation, restrictions, fear
A stretcher waits in a kitchen as a funeral home worker prepares to transport the body of a woman who died of Covid-19 in her bed at home in Houston. 

A stretcher waits in a kitchen as a funeral home worker prepares to transport the body of a woman who died of Covid-19 in her bed at home in Houston. 

Photographer: John Moore/Getty Images

Rates of anxiety and depression rose by about 25% worldwide in the first year of Covid-19, another indication of the widespread harm on mental health inflicted by the pandemic. 

Young people were at the greatest increased risk of suicide and self-harm, and women bore the brunt of the emotional and psychological burden, according to a report from the World Health Organization. People with chronic conditions such as asthma or cancer were also more likely to develop symptoms of mental disorders during the outbreak.