South Korean elderly's mental health worsens due to the coronavirus pandemic

As the world experienced long-term social restrictions due to the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the mental health status of South Korean elderly has worsened compared to European countries.
This was revealed through a research institute investigation. Negative symptoms such as loneliness and insomnia increased, and the risk of depression also increased.
On the 7th, the research institute announced that it is hiring elderly people in Europe and South Korea before and after COVID-19.
, published a report on changes in relationships and mental health. The report analyzes changes in mental health status before and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus, and examines whether people are experiencing two or more of the following symptoms: depression, insomnia, and loneliness.
``Bad'' was defined as ``bad''. According to this report, the percentage of elderly people in South Korea who answered that their mental health was "poor" before the coronavirus was high at 27.4%;
Even after the Rona outbreak, the percentage remained almost unchanged at 27%. In European countries, the percentage of people who answered "poor" showed a decreasing trend. Mental health before and after coronavirus using indicators of mental health level
Regarding changes in status, South Korea's decline rate was 24%, which is slightly higher than the overall average, and when it improved, it was 25%, which is slightly lower than the overall average. Only Italy, Poland and Spain have the same rate of decline as South Korea.
It was actually a little expensive. A decline in mental health is when mental health-related symptoms such as depression, insomnia, and loneliness have increased since the coronavirus; maintenance remains the same, and an increase means fewer symptoms.
means the case. What was especially noticeable was an increase in feelings of loneliness. Among elderly people who did not feel lonely before the coronavirus, the percentage of people who have started to feel lonely after the coronavirus is 7 in South Korea.
It was .2%. In contrast, fewer than 5% of respondents in countries such as Denmark, the Czech Republic, Germany, Sweden and Spain said they were experiencing loneliness more frequently.
Choi Hye-jin, deputy researcher at the Social Security Financial Data Laboratory at the Korea Institute of Health and Social Sciences, said, ``No compulsory measures such as traffic bans have been taken domestically.
However, due to the closure of welfare facilities, restrictions on activity space within local communities increased, and social tensions increased. This seems to have had a negative impact on mental health."
"In disaster situations caused by infectious diseases such as COVID-19, strategies that involve enforcement measures such as lockdowns may have real negative effects," it said, adding, "(The report) suggests that in the future,
In the event of a large-scale infectious disease outbreak like the coronavirus, a cautious approach to measures such as social distancing and lockdowns, along with support policies such as the social security system
This suggests that we need to strengthen our measures."