canberra even the people who are not directly impacted by the covid19 pandemic are likely to have a toll on the mental health because of the disease suggest the findings of a new study the study was published in the journal frontiers in psychiatry in a firstofitskind australian mental health survey researchers found that people in countries with low rates of infection and fatalitieslike australia at the onset of the pandemicstill experience twice as much depression and anxiety these outcomes are largely related to financial stress and disruptions to peoples social lives we already know from past pandemic research that the people who are most affected such as those who become ill andor are hospitalised and their carers experience more severe impacts however the impacts of covid19 on the broader population in relatively less affected countries are also likely to be substantial says lead author dr amy dawel of the australian national university in canberra australia our data show that the byproducts of covid19 are affecting populations broadlynotwithstanding how great the physical illness impact isand the concern is that countries with strong restrictions who appear to circumvent the worst of covid19 may overlook the indirect impacts of the pandemic to capture a snapshot of the populations mental health just after the first covid19 restrictions went into effect dr dawel and her collaborators surveyed nearly 1300 australian adults in march 2020 at this time authorities had recently closed international borders bars and restaurants and limited social gatherings the participants included a representative distribution of the population with equal numbers of men and women and participants across all age groups over the age of 18 from every australian state and territoryin order to prevent any potential bias the survey was designed so that participants would not know the aims of the study instead the researchers incorporated the survey into market research panels without any mention of covid19 or mental health during study recruitment since the survey occurred in the early stages of the pandemic only 36 participants reported having received a covid19 diagnosis or having had a close contact who had been diagnosed there were also relatively few people who had been tested had selfisolated or who had known anyone who had any of these experiences surprisingly these cases of covid19 contact showed no link to mental health impacts in contrast financial distress and disruptions to work and social activities were significantly associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety as well as lower psychological wellbeing however working from home wasnt associated with any negative effects higher rates of mental health symptoms were also found among people who were younger identified themselves as female or who reported having a preexisting mental health conditionwe hope that these data highlight that the way countries manage covid19 is likely to impact their populations mental health beyond those most directly affected by the disease says dawel its important that governments and policymakers recognise that minimising social and financial disruption should also be a central goal of public