How Lockdowns Left a Mark on Youth Mental Health
A study finds COVID-19 lockdowns worsened anxiety, depression in youth. Girls and teens hit hardest. Self-harm concerns rise, with teens hurting outside home. Experts urge mental health focus as youth return to normalcy to prevent lasting problems.
According to scientific research, there is a clear pattern of increased anxiety and depression during the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a trend that suggests that it is even increasing in subsequent years, among children, adolescents and young adults. , explained the researcher at the Institute of Biomedical Research (IIBm) of UNAM, Marcos Rosetti Sciutto.
The increase in self-harming behaviors, especially in adolescent women at the end of 2021, is worrying, and perhaps due to the return to schools. “Both entering and leaving social isolation may have resulted in a triggering event for this type of behavior.” Therefore, it is necessary to implement mental health monitoring at the end of a pandemic, because its effects continue.
