The COVID-19 pandemic will leave an “indelible mark” on the mental health of children and young people

The impact of the pandemic on the mental health of children and young people is incalculable and could last for many years, warns the UN children's agency, adding that at least one in seven children has been affected by the confinements, while more 1.6 billion of them have suffered some loss of education.

The COVID-19 pandemic is taking  a very high toll  on the mental health of children and young people, an affectation that also costs the economies losses estimated at 390,000 million dollars a year, according to a new report released Tuesday by the United Nations Children's Fund ( UNICEF ).

Already before the pandemic, more than  one in seven children and adolescents  between 10 and 19 years of the world suffered from a diagnosed mental disorder and 46,000 committed suicide annually, a situation that has been aggravated by the health emergency, the study warns.

The confinements and movement restrictions imposed by the pandemic alienated this group from  key components for the development of children , such as family, friends, classrooms and play, which will leave an "indelible mark" on them.

Depression and other disorders

According to an international survey by UNICEF and Gallup in 21 countries shows that one in five young people between 15 and 24 years old responded that they often feel  depressed or have little interest  in doing things.

The most recent data from UNICEF indicates that  at least one in seven children has been directly affected  by the confinements, while more than 1.6 billion have suffered some loss of education.

Disruption of routines, education, recreation, as well as concerns about family income and health, make many young people  fearful, angry, or worried  about their future.

So far, the diagnosed mental disorders are  Attention Hyperactivity Syndrome, Anxiety, Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Conduct Disorder , Depression, Eating Disorders, Intellectual Disability, and Schizophrenia. All of these conditions can harm the health, education and earning capacity of children and young people.

Economic cost and lack of investment

The impact on children's lives is incalculable, but in economic terms it does have a cost for societies. The  London School of Economics  estimates that lost contributions due to mental disorders leading to disability or death among young people would total almost  $ 390 billion a year.

Despite the critical importance of mental health for societies, governments  invest very little  in this area, warned the executive director of UNICEF.

" The  relationship between mental health and future life outcomes is not being given enough importance ," Henrietta Fore said, adding that even before COVID-19, children and young people carried the burden of health conditions. without a significant investment to address them.

The report highlights the  gulf between mental health needs and the budget  to meet them: governments regularly allocate 2% of their allocations for the health sector to mental health.

We can't go on like this

In this sense, Fore recalled that mental health  is part of physical health . "We cannot allow ourselves to continue seeing it in another way," he added.

“For too long, in both rich and poor countries, we have seen too little understanding and too little investment in a key factor in maximizing the potential of every child. This must change ”, he pointed out.

The UNICEF report calls on  governments and public and private sector partners  to act to promote the mental health of all children, adolescents and their caregivers, in addition to providing care for the most vulnerable.