The shocking impact the pandemic has had on our children
Research has revealed that 64% per cent of children believe lockdown has damaged their mental health. Closer speaks to the parents of those struggling…
When the third national lockdown saw children sent home from school in January, Charlotte Ames* noticed a change in her son, Ollie*, ten. He grew anxious, self-critical and would cry himself to sleep at night. Now, as the country waits for restrictions to be eased, Charlotte is desperately worried for her son’s mental health.
Charlotte, 41, from Kent, says, “Ollie hasn’t gone to school, or socialised with his friends, in months. He’s worried about falling behind, and I’ve even heard him comment on his weight because he’s not going to his usual sports clubs.
“His dad and I have tried to reassure him that the world will get back to normal soon – but we don’t know if that’s true.” Research shows that one in six children are now suffering from mental illness, up from one in nine prior to COVID-19, with 64 per cent claiming lockdown is the cause. And 45 per cent of parents say they are worried about their children’s mental health.
SERIOUS ANXIETY
Dave Greenhorn is a consultant at Bradford Royal Infirmary, where staff are seeing around two children admitted to A&E with mental health issues every day, compared to two a week before the pandemic.
He says, “Since last March, the number of patients coming into A&E reporting mental health problems has risen, but the increase in this latest lockdown has been the most significant. We’re getting children as young as nine with anxiety and depressive symptoms. They get heart palpitations or shortness of breath, or they’ll show serious self-harm injuries.
“A year in a child’s life seems like a much longer period of time than it does for an adult, so this pandemic feels like it’s going on forever.
“They tell us they’re missing friends, but there are also worries around relatives’ jobs, family’s health, exams and their future. Kids need clubs and outdoor sports, with professionals who can spot the signs of mental ill-health.
Charlotte says Ollie had coped in the first two lockdowns – but now, it’s getting too much.
She says, “At first, he enjoyed the novelty of being at home, and in the summer, he could spend lots of time outside. But in January, when he realised he wasn’t going to be going back to school soon, things changed. He started to get tummy aches, rashes and headaches – I thought about taking him to the doctor, but his physical symptoms never lasted long. We realised it must be linked to stress or exhaustion. Then, he struggled to get to sleep, and I heard him crying in his room at bedtime.”
Ollie is not alone – more than a quarter of children are reporting disrupted sleep.
As an active child, Ollie was also concerned about the impact of lockdown on his fitness.
LONELY & BORED
Charlotte says, “He said he was fat. It was such a shock that a ten-year-old boy would even be thinking about his weight.”
Charlotte encouraged Ollie to start a journal. She says,
“He wrote he was lonely and bored – although it was relief to read that he’d been enjoying spending more time with me and his dad.”
Fortunately Ollie’s grades haven’t slipped, but Charlotte is still worried. She says, “I worry about the life experiences he’s missing out on – he’s not going on school trips, or to friends’ parties. I don’t want him to forget how to interact with others.
“These should be some of the best years of Ollie’s life, but I fear lockdown has created a generation of lost children.”
Another mum worried about her child is Nicola Jenkins, 33, from Wales.
The mum-of-two says her once-gentle four-year-old is becoming agitated and
confused. She says, “His nursery is attached to a primary school, so it’s been closed, and he’s missing his friends. He is too young to understand how to express his emotions. So he lashes out at me and his twoyear-old sister, Belle.”
“And, after spending so much time with me, he’s developed separation anxiety. He used to love staying at my sister’s house, but when he went for a sleepover in the summer, he got so upset, I had to collect him. I know there are parents like me across the country. We need help from the government to ensure this pandemic doesn’t affect our children’s lives forever.”
❛ WE NEED TO ENSURE THIS DOESN’T AFFECT THEIR LIVES FOREVER ❜