COVID-19 loneliness linked to elevated psychiatric symptoms in older adults

A new study has linked COVID-19-based loneliness in older adults with elevated psychiatric symptoms of anxiety, depression, and trauma symptoms that immediately follow exposure to trauma. Notably, the researchers found that the effect of loneliness on psychiatric symptoms was most pronounced among participants who felt subjectively older than their chronological age. On the other hand, participants who felt subjectively younger than their chronological age exhibited no psychiatric symptoms related to loneliness.