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Overview
The Life in Lockdown Snapshot Survey was conducted between the 2nd and the 18th of September 2020. There was significant effort made to ensure that the survey was promoted widely.
The survey investigated a range of impacts of the first COVID-19 lockdown including mental health, physical health, home life, work, and community, as well as looking at awareness of LGBTI+ Services, particularly those offered by LGBT Ireland.
Key Findings
In total, there were 1855 responses to the survey. We asked participants whether they felt their mental health had improved, declined or stayed the same during lockdown. One of the most striking observations from the survey showed that 62% of people reported a decline in their mental health, substantially higher than the 51% impact in the general population. This impact was significantly higher for members of our community who also have a long-term illness or disability, with 80% suffering a decline in their mental health.
Other marginalised members of our community, including Older People (64% reported a decline), Travellers (85% reported a decline) and Asylum Seekers and Refugees (90% reported a decline) faced additional mental health challenges.
Despite the difficult realities, respondents gave messages of hope and new ideas on how individuals and LGBTI+ Support services can make the impact of the pandemic easier.
"The LGBTI+ Community already endures the injustice of discrimination and inequality, and we can see from this snapshot survey that the pandemic and lockdown has hit our community much harder. Isolation, loneliness, and loss are words we hear from callers to our LGBT Helpline all the time, even before the pandemic hit, and now we see these words repeated in this survey at an even greater level."
– Paula Fagan, CEO of LGBT Ireland
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