New research emphasizes how the COVID-19 pandemic impacts men in the U.S.
COVID-19 is still on the go of reorienting our lives; research is part of the 5th yearly MENtion IT educational campaign from Cleveland Clinic that gives deeper meaning on why men often shirk away from reaching out about their health.
COVID-19 Testing Facility Set Up At Newark Airport For Arriving Passengers NEWARK, NJ - SEPTEMBER 08: A man gets his temperature checked during testing for COVID-19 before boarding his flight at the new testing facility XpresCheck at Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal B on September 8, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. Previously, the facility administered tests only to airline employees and related parties. The facility's focus on testing for communicable disease highlights the switch parent company XpresSpa Group has been making from spa services at airports in the midst of the global pandemic. Newark Liberty XpresCheck, which is the second to begin services after New York's JFK Airport, can administer more than 350 COVID-19 tests per day.
According to Health Line, the latest online survey examined how the COVID-19 outbreak affected men physically, mentally, and their everyday health behaviors. Across the nation, the survey team reached almost 1,000 adult males, 18-year-old and above.
The team found that 77% of respondents claim their stress levels increased amid the pandemic, while 59% reported that they felt isolated. Meanwhile, 45% reiterated that their mental and emotional health declines during the struggling period.
Besides, the data showed that the pandemic is a more troubling period for men than the past crises, with 59% of men claiming that COVID-19 had a more significant negative impact on their mental health than the economic recession in 2008.
These findings underscored how rare it is for American men to seek psychological and medical health, like the past MENtion It surveys. The survey revealed that 66% say they rarely discuss coronavirus' effect on their mental health. On the other hand. 48% say they put off seeing a doctor for non-related COVID-19 health concerns.
Simultaneously, the results showed 45% stated that they feel healthier now than before the COVID-19 pandemic, 28% have enough sleep, and 22% added exercise to their routines, and 19% claim they eat more nutritious meals.
How COVID-19 is affects Adult Men
"Men have more difficulties addressing their mental health, and that can affect their physical health in turn. I encourage all men to talk to their partners or to their support system," said Dr. Petar Bajic, a urologist at Cleveland Clinic's Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute and one of the doctors associated with the campaign.
Dr. Michael Young, service chief of The Retreat at Sheppard Pratt, said the uncertainty of this situation has a significant impact on men's mental health. Young, not affiliated with the research, added that the Cleveland Clinic survey findings that almost half are reporting that their mental health worsened amid the COVID-19 pandemic and over three-quarters of men experience increased stress levels are consistent in clinical practices.
COVID-19 pandemic adds to mental health problems
As per the new International Ipsos poll for Headspace, millions of people suffer from stress, and the COVID-19 pandemic added on the piling on an additional stress factor. In a recent survey conducted among British, French, and German internet users to coincide with World Mental Health Day, 69% of international respondents have felt more stressed since the beginning of the pandemic.
Yahoo Lifestyle reported that the findings of increased stress related to the coronavirus pandemic are not surprising considering the lockdown and social distancing measures put in place, and the economic crisis has ensued.
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