Lockdown had unexpected effect on our mood that scientists had not seen

But digging deeper into the data they found some interesting results.

“[We] identified four mood profiles that we have not seen in the population before, we had not observed those ever,” Dr Parsons-Smith said.

“The mood of the nation was an overall negative mood profile which in the past has been associated with people being at risk of potential mental health problems.”

Dr Parsons-Smith said the change in the national mood was likely due to the combination of both the sudden, prolonged social isolation, coupled with decreased levels of physical activity that were the natural result of lockdowns.

“Certainly the general population wasn’t feeling their best – their responses overall were among the more negative mood profiles that we’ve…