We all know the devastation COVID has directly had on our health, from killing us to leaving us debilitated though long COVID, but for most people it is the indirect consequences that have caused the greatest suffering. Lockdown, social distancing, and the fear of COVID has deteriorated our mental health, stretched our finances to breaking point and turned 2020 in the year we all want to forget. But this impact has not been felt equally by all.
It has been well documented that women earn less than their male counterparts across all sectors, but women also tend to hold less secure jobs, be much more likely to have work in the informal sector and also form the vast majority of single parent families. This is why women have a greater struggle against economic shocks than men. In the UK, mothers are 1.5 times more likely to have lost their job or quit than fathers during lockdown. Some of this has been caused by women home schooling their children. UCL found that women spent twice as long teaching their children whilst also bearing the brunt of childcare. This has led to women feeling their wellbeing was suffering with over 50% admitting they were struggling. This disparity was made abundantly evident through a Kings College London study that revealed men were more likely to be bored during lockdown whilst women feeling exhaustion. Of those women who continued to work throughout lockdown, many seemed to have very stressful jobs, with women making up 77% of healthcare workers, 83% social care, 92% childcare and 58% retail staff.
Women are also suffering from an exponential rise in domestic abuse globally. In the UK alone, 47 women are suspected to have been murdered during the first lockdown because of domestic abuse in figures released by the charity Counting Dead Women. The National Domestic Abuse Helpline saw a massive increase in calls it received during both lockdowns. The struggle for women is that they are trapped with their abuser and cannot reach out for help. The trend has been for technology to be used to control and intimidate, with the use of webcams, smart locks, and social media.
A study in the Lancet found that women and those living with young children had the greatest risk of increased mental distress, whilst a government report showed women suffering worse anxiety and depression. This is borne out by what I am seeing in my surgery with increasing numbers of women presenting themselves to me in distress. This ranges from patients showing mild symptoms to actively suicidal thoughts, and as lockdown has progressed the numbers have been increasing. I am also concerned about the number of women who are feeling low and struggling but not coming forward and asking for help. The cardinal signs I want women to look for are: having a low mood more often than not over 2 weeks, a change in sleeping patterns, loss of energy or concentration, becoming easily irritable with others, an increased and consistent heartrate, and repeated anxiety. If you have any of these signs then please contact your GP and we can begin the process to help you. Educational institutions like Universities offer incredible support and employers can help by ensuring that they have educational programmes about mental health, target gender inequality across their company, give staff access to helplines and support at an early stage.
The recent tragic case of Sarah Everard has triggered a much needed debate on women’s safety and how vulnerable they can be but we need to ensure that domestic issues that often go unseen are also discussed. More must be done to narrow and eliminate the gender disparity in our society as that is the only way we can ever hope to be a fair civilization.
Dr Sandesh Gulhane
