Lockdown measures ‘increased depression and anxiety among prisoners’ – survey

New research said the majority of prisoners were confined to their cells for 23 hours each day for the majority of lockdown (Joe Giddens/PA)

More than a third of prisoners showed symptoms of severe anxiety disorder following lockdown measures introduced during the Covid pandemic, research has indicated.

The report Coping with Covid in Prisons found that measures introduced in response to the pandemic led to periods of prolonged solitary confinement across the prison population, resulting in dramatically increased levels of anxiety and depression.