How the Pandemic Hit Our Mental Health

Have lifestyle changes during the Covid-19 pandemic left an enduring mark on our well-being?

Erman Misirlisoy, PhD
Elemental

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Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

Like most things in life, our behavioral changes during the Covid-19 pandemic may come with some unfortunate trade-offs. National lockdowns and restrictions of social activity have helped to curb the number of virus-related deaths en route to the highly effective vaccines available to us today. But have they also left a dent in our mental health along the way?

Here’s a look at some of the latest research examining how our daily behavior has changed over the course of the pandemic, and how those changes are continuing to impact our well-being, even as pandemic restrictions are becoming less severe.

Comic from Skeleton Claw Comics

The Great Behavioral Shift

In a paper published in February 2021, a group of US researchers investigated how the early course of the Covid-19 pandemic affected people’s daily habits. They analyzed data from a wellness study on college students that ran from February 2019 to July 2020. This time frame allowed them to examine student well-being before the onset of the…

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Erman Misirlisoy, PhD
Elemental

Research Leader (Ex-Instagram / Chief Scientist at multiple startups). Author of the User Insight Newsletter: https://userinsight.substack.com/