Deaf News: A third of deaf people say pandemic has affected their mental health

Around 35% of deaf people have said that the coronavirus crisis has had a “major negative impact” on their mental wellbeing, a survey from the deaf mental health charity SignHealth has found.

The results, published a day before World Mental Health Day on Saturday, also revealed that 61% of respondents said anxiety had affected them the most during the pandemic.

Statistics cited by the UK government in 2005 state that 40% of deaf people experienced mental health issues, compared to 25% of hearing people – with SignHealth saying that their survey proves that the problem has been “exacerbated” during the coronavirus crisis, following “very little additional help” from the Government.

Rebecca Mansell, Director of Communications and Fundraising at SignHealth, said that while the charity provides a range of services across England to support the mental health of Deaf people, the results have shown them that “much more needs to be done”.

“We are calling on government to provide an in-person BSL Interpreter at Coronavirus briefings, and we appeal to all providers of health services to meet their obligations under the Accessible Information Standard and the Equality Act.

“At SignHealth we are developing more research into Deaf mental health and we will continue to work closely with other Deaf organisations so that together we can make a difference,” she said.

SignHealth’s plea to the Government follows Number 10 ruling out providing its own British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter for its coronavirus briefings, with Deaf presenter Lynn Stewart-Taylor launching the #WhereIsTheInterpreter campaign over the lack of BSL access.

In this area, just over three-quarters of deaf people surveyed said they found the UK Government’s coronavirus information either partly or completely inaccessible.

SignHealth have since created over 100 BSL videos on COVID-19 news and rule changes – something which 96% of respondents said were helpful.

Meanwhile, in terms of healthcare, the research found that almost 90% of deaf people expressed worries over not being able to communicate with hospital staff should they be admitted with coronavirus.

74% of respondents said they had found it more difficult to access healthcare during this crisis, with 36% experiencing problems receiving medication.

The charity set up BSL Health Access with InterpreterNow in April in response to the issue, which enables deaf people to communicate with healthcare staff for free, 24 hours a day.

Almost two-fifths have used the service, with SignHealth Chief Executive James Watson-O’Neill saying he is “so proud” of the charity’s work to “step up” through the pandemic.

“Many deaf people and deaf charities have been working tirelessly and we stand shoulder to shoulder with them as we work together to support our community,” he said.

The BSL Health Access service has been funded by SignHealth’s reserves, and while the charity says they will continue to support the Deaf community in “any way they can” during the pandemic and afterwards, fundraising income is at an “all-time low”.

“Unexpected costs related to coronavirus have severely impacted [our] projected budget. Further support from the government is required to support SignHealth and other third sector organisations as they continue to plug the gaps in provision for the Deaf community,” they said.

The full report, as well as information on how to access specialist mental health support, can be found on SignHealth’s website.

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By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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Update – 11/10/22: This piece has been updated to amend the previous sentence about a 1994 study about deaf mental health statistics, to reference estimates cited by the Department for Health in 2005.