EXCLUSIVE: Survey shows anxiety levels spike during lockdown

Based on COVER Deskflix viewers data

Adam Saville
clock • 2 min read

Very high anxiety spike when lockdown was announced and consistent levels of medium anxiety throughout course of the pandemic

On average, nearly 60% encountered medium, high or very high levels of anxiety during the Covid-19 crisis, according to viewer data from this morning's COVER Deskflix in partnership with Legal & General.

Watch Season Two: Supporting the mental health of employees during a pandemic and beyond

Of these, medium anxiety levels were recorded for an average of 31% of viewers across a period spanning the end of Jan (two in UK diagnosed with Covid-19) to 13 June (lockdown eased further), while an average of 17.7% experienced high anxiety and very high levels represented 9.5% as an average during this timeframe.

When asked to rank their stress and anxiety levels out five (one = very low) at various milestones throughout the pandemic, our viewers revealed that at the end of Jan 92.6% were experiencing low or very low levels of anxiety, compared to 80.9% encountering medium, high or very high levels of anxiety on 23 March when full UK lockdown was announced.

By 13 June, only 4.3% of Deskflix viewers were experiencing very high levels of anxiety.

Across the Covid-19 timeline, the survey data revealed evidence of very high anxiety levels when lockdown was announced, but consistent levels of medium anxiety throughout the course of the pandemic (See graphs below).

Graph one below shows levels of very low anxiety across the Covid-19 timeline (%).

Graph two below shows levels of medium anxiety across the Covid-19 timeline (%).

Graph three shows levels of very high anxiety across the Covid-19 timeline (%).

When asked whether their own mental health had been negatively by the pandemic, 50% yes and 50% said no.

As many as 90.9% of Deskflix viewers said they have felt supported by their employer while working from home or furloughed.

Findings of the survey (answered by 104 viewers) were revealed as part of Deskflix Season Two, our virtual event series which focused on ‘Supporting the mental health needs of employees during a pandemic and beyond'.

All content from today's virtual event, including a keynote presentation from Sarah Murphy from Mental Health UK and a live panel discussion with Vanessa Sallows from Legal & General and Cavendish Ware's Roy McLoughlin, is available on demand.

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