Pandemic and mental health – 21% of Greeks do not leave home at all for fun or socializing, a new nationwide survey has found. The mental health and sociability of Greeks is burdened by the pandemic, according to a new nationwide survey by Focus Bari and YouGov.
Two years after the pandemic, both the mental / emotional health and the social life of Greeks have been significantly affected, according to a new nationwide survey by Focus Bari | YouGov, conducted between 21-31 December 2021 on a sample of 1,002 people aged 18 to 74 years.
The survey shows that 56% state that their psychological situations has “unstable mood with many ups and downs (“moods changes according to the days”), 32% report a good psychological situation (“it’s a test, it will pass”), while 12% state bad psychological (“I’m worried, I’m very afraid how it will all end”).
Only one in ten Greeks (10%) have a better psychological health than two years ago, twice as many (21%) who report worse, while the rest (69%) reports the same status.
For those who state that their health is better than two years ago, the reasons focus on the new good habits they adopted during the pandemic: better nutrition (61%), more health protection / prevention measures (48%), daily exercise such as walking or running (38%), good daily habits for exercise and eating habits (33%), more / better sleep (29%) and less stress due to teleworking (16%).
For those who state that their health is worse than two years ago, the reasons focus on both their mental and physical condition: anxiety about the effects of the pandemic (55%), deterioration of mental health (50%), depression / loneliness due to inclusion (50%), recent illness (30%), weight gain due to more food (29%), lack of exercise / fitness avoidance (16%), worse sleep (12%).
58% report that their sociability is worse than in the pre-Covid era, 35% state it remains the same and 7% say it is better. Many people avoid leaving home for fun in friendly / relative homes or for social gatherings in restaurants / cafes etc. Exceptions to this are the young ages who most of them go out for fun much more often.
One in five, that is 21% state that they do not go out at all, neither in houses nor in places of entertainment, 43% go selectively to houses and places of entertainment by observing measures, 29% go only to friends / relatives with few people, while 7% say “I go out and go everywhere / to everything as I did before the pandemic”.
At the age of 18-24, this percentage reaches 24%, that is, for one in four young people it is … as if there is no pandemic. The corresponding rate is 12% for those aged 25-34, 6% for those aged 35-44 and only 3% for those over 45. [amna via source]