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As we reported when the COVID War began last year, Sweden was heavily criticized for not locking down its economy and refusing to impose mandatory mask-wearing and other restrictive measures.
It counted on its citizens to voluntarily make intelligent adjustments to deal with the coronavirus.
While the mainstream media continues to attack Sweden for not locking down by comparing its death rate to neighboring Nordic countries, ignored is the fact that Sweden’s COVID death rate is lower than most European nations which severely locked down.
And, never is it mentioned that over 90 percent of those who died of the virus in Sweden were over 70 years of age, with the majority from elder care homes.
And NEVER do they compare it to the locked-down United States. For example, being that the Swedes are in better shape than Americans, who have twice the percentage of obese citizens, the COVID death rate in Michigan, which has a bit smaller population than Sweden, has 5,000 more virus fatalities.
Losing It
Conversely, a study from Denmark, which openly criticized Sweden for not locking down, reveals the catastrophic affect the country’s lockdown has had on mental health.
Conducted by Soren Dinesen Ostergaard, professor of Clinical Medicine at Aarhus University Hospital-Psychiatry, the survey, taken between November and December, found that 27 percent of Danish women and 23 percent of men are experiencing noticeable increases in depression due to the isolation of the lockdown:
“The psychological well-being of both men and women declined when Denmark closed down during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the spring of 2020 – with women being hit the hardest. But during the second wave, it is the other way around in terms of gender: the psychological well-being of men and women is generally low, but it has fallen most in men.”
Professor Ostergaard said,
“The gender difference in our results is interesting, but we cannot determine the underlying mechanisms based on the data at hand. Perhaps it has to do with uncertainties related to employment. The job market has been negatively affected by the pandemic, especially the private sector, which occupies more men than women.”
Anna Mia Ekstrom, who holds a Clinical Professorship in Global Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Sweden’s Department of Global Public Health, offered this analysis last fall:
“Hard lockdowns are unsustainable over sort of any extended period of time in a free society. So, unless you find sort of an acceptable level of restrictions and recommendations that people can understand and support, I don’t think you can sustain a lockdown.”
Beyond Denmark
The economic and psychological devastation caused by the lockdowns extends throughout much of Europe. As CNN reported on 5 January, “A number of European nations have kicked off 2021 in familiar fashion, locking down residents and struggling to curb COVID-19 cases.”
Those countries include the U.K., France, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Austria, and Greece.
Bloomberg News published this headline on 12 January: “Double-Dip Recession Beckons in Europe as Lockdowns Drag On.” The article reports, “Analysts at banks… are downgrading forecasts to account for lockdowns – in some places tougher than ever.”
The CEO of Adecco, the largest staffing firm in the world located in Switzerland, recently asserted,“Wave of lockdowns across Europe should prompt managers to spend more time considering their employees’ mental health. Especially with the second wave of lockdowns coming in, we need more emotionally intelligent leaders, because we see that many people are suffering.”
On 12 January, after a third lockdown was announced by the U.K. government, Paul Farmer, CEO of one of the country’s leading non-profit mental health organizations stated, “It’s no understatement to say that the nation is facing a mental health pandemic.”
Emma Thomas, CEO of Young Minds, the U.K.’s leading charity dedicated to the mental health of young people, revealed on 13 January,
“Many have lost access to mental health support during the first lockdown, while others chose not to look for help at a time when the NHS was under so much pressure…Young people tell us that they’ve struggled to cope with the changes and loss of coping mechanisms brought on by the pandemic, with many experiencing social isolation, anxiety, and fears around their future.”
TRENDPOST: In just a few weeks, it will be one year since the COVID War began. Unprecedented in world history, much of the global economy was locked down. The socioeconomic, geopolitical, and psychological implications will be devastating. Sadly, this headline from The Hill exemplifies the deadly results of the draconian lockdowns:
Las Vegas-area district moves to partially reopen schools amid a surge in student suicides
For several months, the Trends Journal has been reporting on the extensive mental health issues caused by lockdowns. (See our articles, “COVID LOCKDOWN: MENTAL ILLNESS BLUES,” “MENTALLY ILL POLITICIANS CREATING MENTAL ILLNESS,” and “U.K. DOCS WARN: LOCKDOWNS MORE HARMFUL THAN COVID.”)