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.
Furthermore, it was found that in minors the warning signs of neurodevelopment are elevated, after the health crisis, hence the importance of detecting these cases and implementing, as early as possible, interventions that allow them to be corrected, if possible.
When participating in the institutional seminar The mental health of children and adolescents before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the head of the IIBm Peripheral Unit at the “Ramón de la Fuente Muñiz” National Institute of Psychiatry, noted:
The research I have carried out, in collaboration with staff at the Juan N. Navarro Children's Psychiatric Hospital (HPIJNN), offers perspectives on the consequences of this health crisis on the mental health of the youngest sectors of the population.
Currently, there is talk of a concurrent but hidden pandemic, and increases in anxiety and depression, sleep disorders, suicide, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress have been reported at a global and specific level, with multiple causes, including social isolation, vulnerability, family conflicts, in addition to human and material losses.
When explaining a first project related to anxiety and depression, led by Rosa Elena Ulloa, head of the Developmental Psychopharmacology Laboratory at the HPIJNN, she said that during confinement an online questionnaire was launched to people between 8 and 24 years old from all over Latin America. , which was open from 2020 to 2021.
After that period, 3,965 entries were collected from 16 countries, 63.8 percent female; 15.7 percent of children ages 6 to 12; 28.3 percent of adolescents from 13 to 18; and 56 percent of young adults, ages 19 to 24. Mexico had the highest participation with 59.1 percent.
Aspects such as sources of stress were asked, for example, being diagnosed with the disease, reading or listening to news about the pandemic, losing contact with friends or delays in academic activities. Also about coping strategies or behaviors to feel less stressed, such as exercising, but also maladaptive behaviors such as substance use or self-harm. Likewise, questions regarding anxiety and depression were added.
“A consistent pattern was found throughout the results. In general, women always scored higher on all stress measures.” This is what happened when faced with the possibility of getting sick; In another example, losing contact with peers was a major source of stress for girls and adolescents.
In coping strategies, a clear and consistent pattern was seen by age; For example, substance use rose among young adults, and non-suicidal self-harm among adolescents.
From that sample, the specialist explained, we took a subsample and focused on Health Sciences students; Almost half of them were depressed or anxious, and those who most had these conditions were worried about someone close to them becoming infected with COVID-19.
The people with the most depression, anxiety and record of substance use were also the most stressed, added Marcos Rosetti, in the “Dr. Alfonso Escobar Izquierdo.”
Regarding another study, of anxiety and depression patterns in Mexico during 12 months of the pandemic, there were 2,345 participants, 66 percent female. Almost 50 percent prevalence of these disorders was detected in the sample, and at least during that period the trend continued.
The prevalence of non-suicidal self-harm was also studied in the HPIJNN emergency department, a project by Patricia Zavaleta, head of the Research Division at that hospital, who proposed compiling admission data, week by week, of patients from 2019 to 2021, especially with self-harm.
Self-harm, that is, self-poisoning or self-inflicted wounds without suicidal intent, is a typical case of maladaptive behavior and a form of expression of the level of anxiety or stress that the person cannot handle. It is also a risk factor for eventual suicidal behavior.
This population faces stigma when attending health services, which is why there is underreporting; In fact, it is estimated that around 50 percent of those affected do not seek medical help, she clarified.
In those three years, almost 10 thousand people came to the emergency room; and of them, a quarter, 2,548, showed signs of self-harm, the majority, again, were women, with 72 percent; and the average for both sexes was 14.6 years, all regular students.
“We observed that the self-harm stopped at school (because they were not attending) and at home (because their parents were present); "Almost everyone reported another place, apparently they were leaving their homes." In addition, injury methods also changed: cuts decreased and self-hits increased almost three times as much in the pandemic years, compared to 2019, Rosetti Sciutto said.
