A new research study, published in BJPsych Open, finds that loneliness experienced during the UK lockdown increased the risk of depression in family caregivers. Caregivers who were reported being lonely ‘quite often’ had a four-fold risk of being depressed. A likely unintended consequence of the public health measures put in place to control the spread of COVID-19.

 As wide-scale public health interventions were implemented internationally to contain the COVID-19 outbreak (e.g., school and business closures, physical distancing measures, and shielding at-risk individuals), alongside curtailment of many health and social care services, these health protective measures are likely having unintended health consequences, especially for those with existing mental health conditions. Take for example, family caregivers who are prone to depression, as dealing with the challenges of caring can be stressful and isolating. Caring for family members, while often rewarding, can also be taxing, can often be round the clock, for weeks or months and possibly years, which increases their risk of depression.

Thus, in normal circumstances caregiving can be stressful, but due to lockdown caregivers find themselves cut off from family and friends, as well as key social and medical services they may depend on. Or maybe they, or their loved ones, are shielding, so they may find themselves even more isolated and at greater risk of depression. This study aimed to see whether rates of depression in family caregivers were higher during COVID-19 than before it. It also looked to see if these rates were higher than in the general population, while also investigating if the experience of loneliness was contributing to depression risk in family caregivers. 

The study has the following key findings:

During COVID-19, 21.6% of family caregivers were depressed, while before it, 16.7% were depressed. These rates were much higher than in the general population where depression during COVID-19 was 17.9% and before it was 12.1%.

A key contributor to depression in family caregivers was loneliness experienced during lockdown but not loneliness before it. In fact, family caregivers who reported greater levels of loneliness during lockdown were almost 4-times at higher risk of being depressed (see Figure 2 here).

As UK lockdown continues, the impact of loneliness will need to be addressed and efforts to alleviate this risk (e.g, use of new technologies, family bubbles) will be needed.

The article Risk of depression in family caregivers: unintended consequence of COVID-19, by Stephen Gallagher and Mark A. Wetherell, published in BJPsych Open, is available open access.

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