In May this year, Network launched a survey asking people to tell us about the impact that Covid crisis was having on their wellbeing and emotional needs.
The responses have told us that there has been a significant impact on people’s mental health and wellbeing. Related issues are occupying a prominent space in terms of what is causing difficulties and what kind of support people need.
The unusual aspect of the many and varied wellbeing challenges that lockdown has created for people is that they are being experienced by a lot of people at the same time. Interestingly, the variety and even extremes of people’s experiences of lockdown show. For around one fifth of respondents practical challenges are leaving them with little space to deal with emotional challenges. For more people, the stay-at-home measures are creating a space to address issues that might not have been available before.
Three quarters of people feel that they would be able to access listening support and counselling over the phone or online, even if it wasn’t ideal. A small but important 4% of respondents don’t have the privacy or technology to access help in this way.
The findings will feed into our service development as we support people through the medium and longer term mental health impacts of the crisis. You can read a report of the full findings here.