COVID-19 Massive Outbreak, Those Gripped by Fear Wanted ** [Reading Science]

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, as countries around the world went into lockdowns to prevent the spread of the virus, helpline calls surged. Unlike before, the calls were not about reports or consultations on suicide or domestic violence, but rather requests for information about COVID-19 and expressions of loneliness. In some countries, government financial support was found to have prevented an increase in suicide rates caused by the pandemic.

According to a recent paper published in the international academic journal Nature, a research team from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, led by Professor Marius Br?lhart of the Economics Department, analyzed 8 million emergency helpline calls made during the first six weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic from 19 countries worldwide, including the United States, China, Lebanon, and 14 European countries, and reached these conclusions.

The research team stated in the paper that the volume of emergency counseling calls surged sharply in early last year when COVID-19 began spreading globally, increasing by as much as 35% at its peak compared to before. Most calls were from people requesting information about COVID-19 or expressing feelings of loneliness. Professor Br?lhart explained, "The increase in call volume was caused by more people wanting to talk to someone about the pandemic." It was also confirmed that in some countries such as Germany and France, suicide-related counseling calls surged after government lockdown measures were strengthened, but then decreased when financial support was provided to laid-off workers and self-employed business owners who had to close their businesses.

However, the research team did not find evidence supporting predictions that the pandemic would worsen mental health crises such as suicide, drug addiction, domestic violence, and child abuse. Professor Br?lhart said, "This does not mean ignoring the suffering or cases experienced by some individuals or regional studies that might lead to different conclusions," and explained, "The results of this study simply mean that no evidence of such trends emerged from the large-scale emergency counseling call data we collected."

Regarding the cases of Germany and France, there were also remarks that government financial support played a meaningful role in preventing suicide. Professor Moonmoon de Shoudry of the Computer Science Department at Georgia Institute of Technology said, "While it cannot be definitively stated that the financial support from the German and French governments caused the reduction in suicide-related counseling calls, it is noteworthy," adding, "Mental health is influenced by ecological experiences through environment and community, and financial aspects are a very important part."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.