The silent pandemic: are our children suffering?
Content warning: mention of self-harm and specific mental health conditions, including eating disorders, in children.
This week is Children's Mental Health Week. With schools closed, in-person social activities cancelled, and levels of anxiety and uncertainty at a high, it's time we addressed the mental health of our children.How has the pandemic affected children's mental health?
The scale of the problem
The Guardian: Figures lay bare toll of pandemic on UK children's mental health
Prescriptions for sleeping pills for under-18s rose 30% to 186,000 between March and June 2020, compared with two years ago
One of the largest private eating disorder services reported a 71% rise in admissions in September compared with the same period a year ago
More than 25% of young people felt unable to cope with life amid the pandemic, and almost a third had panic attacks
Almost 50% of those in learning worried that missing out on education would set them back for the rest of their life, with more than a third feeling their education had “gone to waste”
Fiona Forbes of the campaign group Sept for Schools has said:
Why might this be happening?
This is something I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on, but here are some ideas on why the mental health of our children is on the decline:- Lack of routine
- Less time spent outside
- Little face to face interaction with friends
- Uncertainty about the future
- Health anxiety
- Having to adapt to online learning
The mental health of disabled children
Children with significant mental health problems may fall within the definition of being disabled.
In addition, disabled children have a much greater chance of developing mental health problems. For example, according to Mentally Healthy Schools, children with learning difficulties are:- Four times more likely to have a diagnosable emotional mental health problem
- Nearly twice as likely to have depression
The Mental Health Foundation have a really useful document on understanding the mental health of young people with learning difficulties, including information on who you can speak to for help.
A report in The Guardian has pointed out that, for parents of children with special needs, life has become doubly difficult.
Jane, whose 17-year-old and 13-year-old both have autism, worries that years of painstaking progress are being undone:
Are services able to cope with the demand?
Mental health services in England do not have the capacity to cope with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on children Anne Longfield, the Children’s Commissioner for England, has warned.Resources
- Variety: podcast on how parents can look after the mental health and emotional wellbeing of disabled children during the coronavirus crisis
- Mentally Healthy Schools: children's mental health week toolkit
- CYPMHS (previously CAMHS): the NHS' children and young people's mental health services
- NSPCC: helpline for adults who are concerned about a child (you can remain anonymous). Call 0808 800 5000, or email help@nspcc.org.uk
- NSPCC: resources for parents and carers
- NSPCC: resources for children and young people (including Childline)
Comments
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In wales mental health in children increased but the Welsh government put in support packages and applied more funding set up online groups for children and also for adults ?
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i feel desperately sorry for children of all ages, they really have had a bad deal during covid, personally at the age of 62 i've had most of my time, but kids won't/can't get this time back, it has been estimated that purely because of CV19 and it's effects on education that today's kids over their working life will earn around £40,000 less than they might have done had there been no pandemic and that is truly awful.2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡
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That sounds great @lisathomas50. Do you have a link to them so that other members can access them if they wish?
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2024 The year of the general election...the time for change is coming 💡
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@woodbine thank you I dont know how to put a link on there
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@Cher_Scope there is a big difference between England and Wales to the support we can get
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Gosh, that is a terrible projection @woodbine. I definitely think we'll all need to consider the wide-reaching impact the pandemic has had on young people, and the way in which home learning has deepened pre-existing inequalities in education.
Thanks for posting the link
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You can copy and paste links straight into a comment on the community @lisathomas50. I'm sure it varies phone to phone, but on the phones I've owned you can copy links by holding down on the URL bar at the top of the page.
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@Tori_Scope alot of it down to politics this is why I am sometimes scared to comment because in terms of support in wales compared to England is realy good and wakes has stepped up during the pandemic alot of things are done different
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@Tori_Scope I did try but it just kept copying i get Tom my job support to show me lol thank you ?
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Hi all,
I just thought I'd post a resource I recently came across here in case it was of any interest.
Public Health England have launched a new Psychological First Aid online training resource, aimed towards those supporting children and young people affected by coronavirus. You can access the course for free on FutureLearn.
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