Britain's BBC commissioned a global poll to find out the profound and diverse effect that the pandemic had on mental health.
The World Health organisation says it confirmed their own findings, with a third of people polled in 30 countries reported bereavement, illness or financial problems.
But a third of those polled said they experienced an improvement in their sense of wellbeing and in Vietnam, a majority of people said they feel better now than before the pandemic.
In the global poll of 29,000 people carried out by the Globescan organisation* , 36 per cent of people say they feel better now than they did even before the pandemic, while 27 per cent say they feel worse.
People in developing economies were most likely to say they feel better. Nigeria, India and Egypt all came out on top. While in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and much of Europe, reports are more likely to be negative. In Vietnam, people were particularly positive.
Ho Chi Minh's University of Social Sciences, therapist Trinh Thanh Vi [[zhuhn tan vi]] has been surprised by how well her clients are recovering. And she has an idea why:
"There's a much stronger sense of community in Vietnam now, thanks to all the difficulties that we went through during the pandemic."
The WHO says the findings of the poll emphasise that further research is needed on the pandemic's impact on mental health among specific at-risk populations.
In a statement, the organisation noted that outpatient mental health services had been particularly disrupted during the pandemic and that this had further widened the mental health treatment gap.
"Future studies should therefore focus on scaling up mental health services and psychosocial support as a fundamental component in preparedness and response plans for future public health emergencies."
