Durban - Anxiety among school-going adolescents has skyrocketed because of the Covid-19 lockdown, said a Durban psychiatrist.
While matriculants and Grade7 pupils are expected to return to school next month, no official dates have been given yet for all grades by the Department of Education.
Some schools have resorted to e-learning in the interim, using the internet and WhatsApp groups to teach during physical distancing.
“The pressure to keep up with the (online) learning platforms is overwhelming and the means of self-directed learning which for a few may be helpful, for many, leads to increased uncertainty and anxiety,” said uMhlanga specialist psychiatrist Dr Denzel Mitchell.
The “mental health effects of school closures during Covid-19” study by The Lancet found that school routines were important coping mechanisms for young people with mental health issues. When schools closed, they lost an anchor in life and their symptoms could relapse, said the study.
Mitchell said schooling provided adolescents with the development of social skills that were already lacking because of the emergence of social media platforms.
“Teenagers need to learn and practise social skills face to face with peers and figures of authority. These include non-verbal skills and are imperative in solidifying their sense of identity.
“The classroom also provides the collective for peer support and learning across all ages. The adolescent is a special group learning to rely on themselves and their peers rather than just the family unit,” he said.
Mitchell said social interaction with peers at school led to growth of confidence and development
as well as self-reliance and
resilience.
“Without the classroom, adolescents become more isolated and this reinforces uncertainty, which drives anxiety especially since many of their parents and older siblings grew up in a very different landscape,” said Mitchell.
He said that anxiety became prominent when children were not reassured by their peers and teachers in the classroom or on the school ground.
“Some kids who do not have or are still mastering discipline find themselves bumbling along without the structured school life and this can lead to feeling overwhelmed or despondent,” he said.
Physical distancing measures can also result in social isolation in an abusive home, with abuse likely exacerbated during this time of economic uncertainty and stress, the journal article said.
While not much is known about the long-term mental health effects of large-scale disease outbreaks on children and adolescents, previous viral outbreaks in vulnerable states may be indicative of the impact that contagious diseases could have on adolescent mental health.
“Increased rates of child abuse, neglect, and exploitation have also been reported during previous public health emergencies, such as the Ebola outbreak in west Africa from 2014 to 2016,” the article said.