People are taking to Twitter and sharing the most unhinged things they did while the COVID-19 pandemic raged
- The BBC reported on a study that concluded that the mental health crisis during COVID-19 was "minimal."
- People on Twitter reacted by tweeting about the most unhinged things they did.
The BBC reported on a study that said the damage to people's mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic was "minimal" — and people on Twitter weren't having it.
The study was done by Canadian researchers from institutions including the McGill, Ottawa and Toronto universities, and published on March 8 in The BMJ, a peer-reviewed medical journal. This study concluded that "changes in general mental health, anxiety symptoms, and depression symptoms," due to the pandemic have been "minimal to small."
But on Monday, the BBC's Twitter account was flooded with a barrage of responses from people who disagreed with the study's findings. Many of the tweets contained examples of the most unhinged things people said they did during the pandemic — a collective effort to debunk the study with real-life anecdotes.
At press time, the BBC's original tweet had been viewed more than 109.3 million times, and had garnered more than 45,000 responses in quote tweets.
One person said he stayed awake for 40 hours in anticipation of the boy band One Direction getting back together.
Twitter user Evie Ebert tweeted that she held a birthday party for her dishwasher. Her tweet showed her and a child sitting in front of the kitchen appliance, holding a colorful cake.
Another person gave a shout-out to the late TikTok sensation Noodle the pug.
"Dude people based their entire days on whether a dog could stand up or not (rest in peace you icon)," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Twitter user Fun Phil reminisced about his "glass corner," where he and his roommates smashed their beer bottles after they finished them instead of disposing of them properly.
Twitter user Milly said she made a tiny art museum for her hamster, where she re-created several Old Masters in a miniature, hamster-appropriate dimensions.
The tiny pieces of art were affixed to the wall for her hamster to view them. The art pieces this Twitter user made included works like "Pablo Pica-Sue" and "The Sue with the Pearl Earrings."
This study's surprising findings that the pandemic did not cause a mental health crisis stand in contrast to findings from a study done by the Australian Institute of Health and Wellness, which found the mental health impact of the pandemic was "substantial."
Psychiatrist Dr. Nikole Benders-Hadi, the medical director of telemedicine company Doctor on Demand, told Insider in August 2021 that her company saw a 325% increase in behavioral health visits in 2020.
Experts also told Insider's Cheryl Teh in 2021 that people who suffer from "long-haul" COVID-19 symptoms have a higher suicide risk. Thse long-term COVID-19 symptoms include headaches, dizziness, seizures, and other neurological conditions.
Representatives for the BBC and the study's representative, Brett Thombs, did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment outside regular business hours.