Survey: 68% of People Depressed Due to Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered the patterns of social interaction and activity. Primarily, this pandemic has caused various social, economic, and health problems in society, including mental health.

The Indonesian Psychiatric Doctors Association (PDSKJI) conducted a mental health survey related to COVID-19. They examined three psychological problems: anxiety, depression, and psychological trauma. The results showed that 68% of respondents reported anxiety, 67% reported depression, and 77% experienced psychological trauma.

The most prominent anxiety symptoms experienced by respondents were a feeling that something bad would happen, excessive worry, easy anger or irritation, and difficulty relaxing. Meanwhile, the main depressive symptoms experienced were sleep disturbances, lack of self-confidence, fatigue and lack of energy, and loss of interest. Respondents experienced these symptoms for half the time and almost all day during the last two weeks.

Psychological trauma, meanwhile, was related to respondents who experienced or witnessed unpleasant events related to COVID-19.

The survey involved 1,522 respondents, with the majority (76.1%) being women aged between 14 and 71 years old. The largest number of respondents came from West Java (23.4%), DKI Jakarta (16.9%), Central Java (15.5%), and East Java (12.8%).