The coronavirus pandemic has taken a toll on the daily lifestyle of people all around the world but a recent study reveals that women have been the worst affected population.

A recent Lancet study reported that cases of depression and anxiety have increased by more than a quarter in just the initial year of coronavirus pandemic.

While the rise in cases has sounded an alarm for medical experts all around the world, the fact that a lot of these cases were of women has the experts worried.

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There have been 374 million cases of anxiety disorders around the world in 2020. Out of these, nearly 76 million were new cases caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

From this figure of 76 million, nearly 52 million additional cases were in women, while men only constituted 24 million.

Another study that emerged in the Headway 2023 Mental Health Index has revealed that 83 per cent of women have reported mental health issues during the pandemic years.

Women experiencing traumas such as miscarriage or an abusive relationship, pregnant women or those in postpartum period have been most vulnerable to slipping into depressive phase and anxiety attacks.

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One another major reason behind the increase in mental health issues in women has been the extra burden of household chores and childcare. During the pandemic, families came under lockdown and the pressure of running a household along with keeping their office life on track became mentally draining for women. In a lot of households, it was also reported that a very less percentage of men had come forward to help women.

Nearly 44 per cent of women with children under the age of 12 reported that they were struggling to maintain a balance between their professional and personal life, while taking care of their mental health.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated many existing inequalities, and social determinants of mental health disorders, and the underpinning mechanisms to improve mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic globally,” said Alize Ferrari, from the University of Queensland. “It is crucial that policymakers take underlying factors such as these into account as part of measures to strengthen mental health services.”