UK: 60,000 children driven to clinical depression due to lockdowns – study

UK: 60,000 children driven to clinical depression due to lockdowns – study.

The pandemic caused a huge spike in mental health problems among young people.

60,000 CHILDREN in the UK were driven to clinical depression due to lockdowns according to a new study.

A new report by the Royal Society Open Science Journal has highlighted that the lockdowns in the UK have caused a staggering increase in the number of children diagnosed with depression.

Of those children who participated in the study, 27.1 per cent were found to be suffering from depression. An article in the Telegraph suggests that this equates to 60,000 extra children who are experiencing mental health problems as a result of the lockdowns in the UK.

“After controlling for baseline scores and several school and pupil-level characteristics, depressive symptoms were higher in the COVID-19 group,” the study found.

“These findings demonstrate that the COVID-19 pandemic increased adolescent depressive symptoms beyond what would have likely occurred under non-pandemic circumstances.”

Statistics show that although mental health referrals for children have been increasing in recent years the pandemic has caused a huge spike in the number of young people being referred to specialists, with one report suggesting a 134 per cent increase.

A 2020 report by Mental Health Foundation Scotland shows similar findings and suggests that some children may be experiencing symptoms of PTSD as a result of quarantine measures.

The report also identified that children are experiencing heightened anxiety relating to loneliness, school and the future as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic lockdowns.

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