This text is part of the special Research section
One in two adults suffers from pandemic fatigue. And this is just one of the many disturbing data revealed by various studies conducted in Quebec, Canada and internationally.
A normal and expected reaction in the context of chronic adversity, pandemic fatigue results in a feeling of general fatigue, even despair, demotivation, a feeling of neglect, or even marginalization. This is established by a survey on the psychological and behavioral response to the COVID-19 pandemic conducted by an interdisciplinary team from the University of Sherbrooke among 10,368 Quebecers, between 1er and October 17th.
The survey reveals two dimensions to this fatigue: information fatigue (being exhausted from hearing about COVID-19) and behavioral fatigue (being exhausted from having to put in the effort to fight COVID-19). Parents of children under 11 (59%), students (60%) and young people aged 18-34 (64%) turn out to be the most affected by this phenomenon.
Still under the leadership of the University of Sherbrooke, supported by the CIUSSS de l’Estrie, 33,000 Quebecers aged 12 to 25 responded to an online survey on their psychological health, and the results are not very encouraging. Thus, from the age of 16, at least 50% of young people show symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety or depression, and one in four young people thought they would be better off dead, or considered hurt in the past two weeks.
Another highlight: since the start of the pandemic, vaping among young people seems to be on the decline, while excessive alcohol consumption is on the rise. Asked what could do them good in the coming weeks, they said they wanted above all to get back to their daily lives – their activities, their sport and their social contacts -, but also affirm that they will need support and unparalleled mobilization of university and community partners.
A discriminating virus
A team of researchers from several Canadian universities also looked at COVID-19 infections present in 16 cities in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. The results of their study show that the geographic concentration of cases depends on social determinants of health, such as neighborhoods with high housing density and having more essential workers, low-income or low-education residents, and a higher high proportion of visible minorities or recent immigrants.
These results are comparable to those from other research internationally, where COVID-19 rates are higher in neighborhoods with a vulnerable community or characterized by high diversity.
Another team of researchers, this time internationally, looked at cultural differences in knowledge and attitudes towards COVID-19. She highlighted that it is in Europe that the population cares the least about the virus, while the American population is the one who observes health instructions the least. There is undoubtedly a link to be made with the fact that in these two regions, COVID-19 caused more deaths than in the other zones studied.