- COVID-19 and the prevalence of mental disorders in children
- Remote learning and its negative impact on the psyche of children
- Home environment - a common cause of mental disorders in children
- How to help children with mental disorders?
The persistence of a pandemic or related restrictions undoubtedly affects the mental state of the human population. Due to the epidemiological situation, some groups experience smaller, others greater difficulties. Its effects are also felt by the youngest. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected children's mental he alth? How to help children in the time of a pandemic?
The fact that the condition of Polish child psychiatry is far from ideal has been mentioned for many years now. It is emphasized that there is a shortage of not only staff, but also places where young patients in need can receive the help they need. The prevalence of mental disorders in children has been increasing for a long time. Currently, however, it is said that psychiatric problems may appear in even more children than before. This development is due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has lasted for several months.
COVID-19 and the prevalence of mental disorders in children
Some adults assume that the pandemic is not a major problem for children - nothing could be more wrong. Contrary to all appearances, the youngest are often well aware of the current epidemiological situation. In addition, various restrictions in the world simply affect them as well.
Children may also be afraid of the disease, which is said to have killed a great many people. Fears may concern themselves or someone from their closest relatives.
Currently, in the era of the pandemic, the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders in children has increased. There are many reasons for this. One of the main ones can be distance learning.
Remote learning and its negative impact on the psyche of children
The epidemiological situation led - or in fact still sometimes leads - to the necessity of transferring schools to remote or hybrid learning. While there are probably benefits to online learning, the disadvantages of this model of education largely outweigh the disadvantages.
Human development begins immediately after birth, and although the most noticeable changes are observed in the first years of a child's life,in fact, people develop their various skills into adulthood.
One of those that are hard to acquire only in your own home are social competences. Being among peers, but also among strangers, a child acquires various abilities, thanks to which it is later able to function properly in society. Thus, distance learning may have long-term consequences, but some of its consequences are already visible.
Children in the world simply need contact with their peers. When they have lessons in remote mode, meetings with peers can be very difficult, and sometimes even impossible. Social isolation may, in turn, be one of the possible causes of depressive disorders in the youngest.
It is worth mentioning here that for many students, distance learning can be a source of very strong stress. Children sometimes find it difficult to show their face on the webcam, many of them also find it hard to break their shame and, for example, record videos of how they perform various physical exercises that the physical education teacher asked for.
Stress may also be intensified by quite mundane factors, such as, for example, instability of the Internet connection. Contrary to appearances, not all people in Poland have access to perfectly functioning links and many students struggle with stuttering educational platforms or breaking access to the Internet while writing a test.
Long-term stress, as it is easy to guess, adversely affects the human psyche and ultimately can lead to the development of various mental disorders.
Home environment - a common cause of mental disorders in children
The need for remote learning is associated with being at home basically all the time and this may also be the reason why mental he alth problems are more common among children nowadays. It may seem quite surprising, but in practice it should be noted that in many situations it is the difficult family situation that is responsible for the fact that the child is struggling with some mental disorders.
Violence in families has always occurred, but nowadays it can occur more often because families - especially when parents also work remotely - can spend essentially all the time together. It should also be mentioned that when children attend school, different people - their peers, teachers or school psychologists - are able to notice certain problems and simply react.
Then, when the child is locked infour walls and meets educators only in the virtual world, the possibility of observing a possible problem becomes much smaller.
Ultimately, some mental disorders could be prevented if the first symptoms or factors that may be conducive to their occurrence were reacted early enough - the lack of intervention is another reason why mental disorders in children are encountered more often than before.
How to help children with mental disorders?
The first step to helping a child with a mental disorder is to observe when something is wrong with the child.
Parents or teachers must not underestimate the potential manifestations of depression or anxiety disorders, such as, for example, depressed mood, withdrawal from interpersonal contacts or a significant reduction in interest in things that were previously a passion of a young patient.
You should talk to your children. For them it is even valuable that a parent notices their problem at all.
If you notice any disturbing behavior, seek help as soon as possible. In Poland, even as part of private medical care, finding a psychologist or child psychiatrist takes time, so you need to seek help right away.
For many childhood mental disorders, early intervention has the chance of shorter treatment times and may prevent the most serious consequences of a child's mental disorder, such as attempted suicide or the child's committing suicide.