Scientists from the Institute of Psychology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) conducted a study to analyze the psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Łukasz Okruszek and his team have listed the fear and loneliness caused by quarantine among the most serious psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study was conducted for two weeks, starting on March 15. It turned out that the respondents fear the most of the health care crisis the least of the isolation. The fear and worry about their own health is higher among people who voluntarily applied the recommendation of strict isolation.

People who had higher levels of anxiety and depression at the beginning of the epidemic are particularly vulnerable to the negative psychological effects of a pandemic. This condition may be associated with increased fear of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as worsening symptoms of reduced mental well-being. Their concerns about a pandemic and its effects at the beginning of an epidemiological emergency may be associated with a growing sense of loneliness.
The research was conducted on people aged 18–35 under the Loneliness Project.