People need to devote time to looking after their mental health during the Covid-19 pandemic due to its significant impact on their wellbeing, a leading psychiatrist has advised.

One in five people are suffering psychological distress as a result of the pandemic, rising to two out of every five healthcare workers, according to Prof Brendan Kelly.

Those most at risk include women, younger people and those with pre-existing poor health.

Hospital Report

The proportion of the population that says they feel depressed at least some of the time has risen from 13 per cent in 2018 to 33 per cent earlier in the pandemic. This figure is 50 per cent higher among women than men, according to the Central Statistics Office research cited by Prof Kelly at the Saint John of God Research Foundation Study Day on Tuesday.

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Although hospital presentations for self-harm fell during the pandemic, so did all hospital presentations due to the lockdown, he points out. It is “too early” to know what impact the pandemic has had on the suicide rate.

Media intake

Meanwhile, US research has indicated that people with mental illness are themselves at much higher risk of getting Covid-19 than the general population – seven times more in the case of people with depression or schizophrenia.

The professor of psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin says there is "no point" in people getting "caught up" in thinking about the disease as "an existential crisis for humanity" when they need to be focusing on wearing masks, washing hands and supporting others to follow healthcare advice.

Talking about the “new normal” of the pandemic is unhelpful, he suggests. “There is nothing, and there never will be anything, normal about this. This is a tough time and a strange time and we need to give ourselves and each others more permission to be upset and be distressed by it.”

“We cannot carry the weight of the global pandemic on our shoulders every minute of every day, as many people are trying to do.” Prof Kelly suggests people should limit their media intake about the pandemic to once or twice a day, or 15 minutes maximum.

“Routine is very important, things like diet and exercise and staying in touch as best as possible.”

“We tend to neglect behaviour at times like this. We spend all our time thinking and analysing statistics, scrolling through social media looking for the most unlikely possible theories. Then we dismiss them, but they still have an emotional impact.”

Stressing the need for us to get “out of our heads” as much as possible, he advises people instead “get into a state of flow or absorption” through activities such as running, gardening, knitting or, if it suits, meditation.