Mental health: Another casualty of coronavirus?

World Mental Health Day 2020 Lecture

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on our way of life, affecting everything from work to social interactions and cultural and leisure activities. It has introduced new uncertainties and placed significant strains on a number of services and areas of the economy. While presenting a host of challenges, the pandemic has also arguably led to a number of opportunities and even positive developments for some. All of these scenarios and outcomes have a bearing on our mental health. Evidence suggests that the challenges and benefits have been unevenly distributed throughout the population and hence the mental health impacts have also varied.

Join us for an evening of talks and discussion on the implications and effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of different groups and communities from a range of academic perspectives. The keynote speaker is Dr Kwame McKenzie, Chief Executive Officer, Wellesley Institute who will talk about inequalities in this area faced by the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Communities. Academics at the University of York will also present their research into the experiences, both negative and positive, of different population groups. There will be the opportunity to pose your own questions about the consequences for society and for public services as well as about potential ways of ‘building back better’.