Generation Q(uarantine): Children Of The Pandemic

COVID-19 has put a spotlight on existing problems that some call the biggest pandemic issue we face today: mental health. “Good mental health is absolutely fundamental to overall health and well-being,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. And children are particularly affected.  A worldwide scale of anxiety, loneliness and fear that had been there before added up, and investigation found rise in school safeguarding reports, eating disorders and sleeping pill prescriptions. Parents struggle to get help, and, as a social worker in the UK put it “everybody feels anxious at the moment. You don’t want that to develop into anything more sinister for a young person.” And without help, these kids have the chance to deteriorate.  Generation Q A child who is now 10 years old has spent one-tenth of his/her life in quarantine, away from grandparents, friends, school, sports and other activities. This has a devastating effect on their social, physical and mental development. More than a quarter of children (aged 5–16 years) reported disrupted sleep. 18% of kids in the UK with probable mental health problems felt fearful of leaving the house because of COVID-19. COVID-19 became the monster under the bed – and it’s likely to stay. No wonder these kids are already being dubbed as Generation Q – as in quarantine. The fears implanted by the virus are going to be so embedded into this young generation. We can’t even begin to thi...
Source: The Medical Futurist - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Covid-19 Digital Health Research E-Patients Healthcare Policy Medical Education depression Hospital digital technology children mental health anxiety WHO lockdown child rights Human Rights Watch UNICEF quarantine Generati Source Type: blogs