Marmalade Game Studio, the digital board game group, has published research on the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on mental health. Around one in four adults – the equivalent of more than 13.3 million people have developed mental health problems since the pandemic’s onset.
Concerns over health and worries about loved ones added to financial worries have driven a rise in mental health issues with anxiety and stress the conditions affecting the most people, the research found.
The research shows 54 per cent of adults say they have suffered from a range of issues including stress, anxiety, depression, and even suicidal thoughts since the crisis started in March 2020.
However, 25 per cent of people say their mental health issues only started because of the pandemic while a third (31 per cent) who were concerned about their mental health before the crisis say the impact of covid-19 made them feel worse.
Around two out of five people (38 per cent) say they have suffered from stress or anxiety during the crisis while around one in four (26 per cent) say they have been depressed at points during the ups and downs of the pandemic. Nearly one in 10 (nine per cent) say they have been plagued by suicidal thoughts at times.
The research for Marmalade Game Studio, which publishes popular digital board games such as Monopoly, Taboo, Cluedo and Jumanji, shows 44 per cent of adults say their mental health has been fine during the crisis. Around one in 20 (five per cent) – the equivalent of 2.8 million people – say their mental health has even improved during the crisis.
Digital gaming has proved to be important for mental health – 16 per cent of European Union gamers say being able to play games online and connect with others particularly families helped during lockdowns and 42 per cent say playing multiplayer games during lockdown made them happier. Marmalade Game Studio has recently introduced Bubble in-game video chat allowing gamers to add friends and family to group chats, start games from these, and video chat whilst playing as a way of helping families stay in touch.
Cristina Mereuta, co-CEO at Marmalade Game Studio, said: “The combination of a global health crisis and a global economic crisis is bound to have affected mental health and made people feel stressed and anxious.
“People have had to cope often on their own because of the impact of lockdowns without being able to talk to others about their very real worries about their own situation and that of loved ones.”
Online gaming surged in popularity during covid-19 lockdowns with the global online video market growing in value to $155.89billion last year* with nearly one in five (18 per cent) gamers across the European Union spending more time gaming online. In the UK that figure rises to 26 per cent.
