By Adam Dutton
The announcement of a second lockdown has sparked fresh concerns from DMU students about the impact it will have on their mental health.
Boris Johnson announced a second national lockdown on Saturday night, (OCT31), imposing tighter restrictions on the nation in an attempt to slow the effects of Coronavirus.
The government restrictions are expected to last for at least four weeks, starting from today until December 2.
While the restrictions this time around are less severe, the impact of the lockdown on mental health is expected to be just as bad.
Zoaib Kitabi, 22, an Engineering student from DMU, said: “The first lockdown was enough. The stress it caused and the anxiety it created.
“Couple this with the uni workload and looming deadlines, the new lockdown could be extremely bad for some students.
“The online learning is already testing enough, preventing socialising and such, a second lockdown would only make that side of it worse.”
Students are prevented from travelling home and social gatherings and socialising in large groups have been banned.
Ashley Young, 22 and a student, also said: “If I wanted to leave for home I’m now not allowed to. I have to stay here until December at the earliest and it’s not ideal.
“It is an uncomfortable position to be in and I wish we didn’t have to do it. I feel restricted and frustrated and I miss home.
“It’ll be great when this is all over.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the rate of depression in adults has sharply increased.
A study carried out by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found out that the rate of depression in adults had grown by more than 8 per cent in the UK since the start of the pandemic.
More than 69 per cent of adults also recorded feeling the effects of worsening mental effects since the start of the pandemic.
Lockdown 2 is expected to end December 2, however that could change if the death toll and positive cases do not begin to fall.
