Summer 2021 Publication

ERIC GU
T
hroughout the COVID-19 epidemic,
many adolescents experienced mental
health hardships as a result of public
health safety precautions, including
school closures, social isolation, economic
hardships, and health-care access
disparities. In May 2020, just a few
months after the epidemic began, 29% of
parents said their child's mental health
had been negatively affected.¹
Furthermore, according to a research
study conducted by the National Institute
of Mental Health in October 2020, 31% of
parents believe their child's mental or
emotional health is worse now than it
was before the pandemic.¹ Irritability,
clinginess, and dread have all been
documented in children, as well as
sleeping problems and a lack of appetite.
Difficulties relating to access to good
mental health treatment may be rising as
mental health issues become more
widespread and visible in our youth.
Accessibility concerns in the healthcare
system may exacerbate existing mental
health issues among teenagers.
The number of teenagers with early
indicators of "learning anxiety, sensitive
propensity, somatic anxiety, and phobia
anxiety has increased dramatically,"
according to the same study. A risk-filled
perception of COVID-19 in this modern
era is detrimental to people's mental
health. Although adolescents are not the
primary risk group for COVID-19 virus
infection, they still experience significant
psychological distress and are at risk of
allostatic overload of various recent life
events and/or chronic stress. Such a
stressor is deemed to exceed or place
immense pressure on learned individual
coping skills.
The causes of psychological distress
leading to potential anxiety and other
mental health issues that adolescents
were exposed to are numerous. They may
be related to several different facets, for
example, large scale quarantining and
being confined within the home, facing
waves of negative news and other
potential triggers, fearing that they or
(Image Credit: Energepic from Picography)
their family and friends could be negative
impacted by the pandemic, a major or
significant lack of knowledge or awareness
surrounding disease prognosis or
risk factors, coming into account with
such fragility and brevity of life, becoming
sensitive to their physical discomfort,
and even fear of death. The
triggers of stress with observable mental
health impacts were also prevalent during
past pandemics, such as the SARS and
Ebola outbreaks, but none on the magnitude
as we are observing now given as
none of these pandemics had such drastic
tangible impacts on day to day life.²
More crucially, it is alarming to national
health authorities that while over 75% of
adolescents feel the need to seek help
with their emotional and/or mental wellbeing,
40% of these people did not
contact out for help. In the case of
women, this proportion jumps to 43%.³
The major mechanisms where people
would seek aid if needed are health
centers and specialty hospitals (50%),
EUNOIA GLOBAL HEALTH 39