Mental illness rising in youth
Nobody in this world remained untouched from coronavirus pandemic effects. Youngsters have been comparatively more immune to coronavirus, mostly either escaping infection by the virus or defeating the disease, comparatively sooner if got infected. If not the direct heath impact, the pandemic is taking the toll on youngsters in indirect ways. The biggest problems youngsters are facing in Covid times are career disruption, education barrier and mental illness. It’s true that coronavirus doesn’t discriminate.
Employment, education and mental health
The major concerns for youth in pandemic times are mental health, employment and education, says a survey by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). For the respondents, aged between 15 and 28 from 48 countries, concern about getting sick from coronavirus was low on the list.
The youth of poor countries has more worry about jobs and income. In Europe and rest of the world, a number of companies have shut down businesses during Covid lockdown. As per estimations by economists, a large number of jobs have gone forever. This has worried the youngsters immensely in poor countries.
As many as one billion students across the world are estimated to get affected by education disruption. Since coronavirus lockdown in most of the countries, students find themselves in a very confused state. As per studies, Covid 19 pandemic is likely to make a long term damage to the youth prospects worldwide.
Youth worries of mental health, not physical
Education disruption, career barriers, losing jobs and income sources, less access to health care, loneliness, isolated lifestyle and lockdown blues are the major role players in deteriorating mental health of youngsters. A large number of students and young workers are self reporting stress, anxiety and depression issues worldwide.
Less likely to get seriously sick with the disease or die, youngsters are more concerned about their mental health. The mental illness issues among youth had been increasing significantly over the decade. However, situation has gone worse since the coronavirus outbreak. The less future prospects are taking a toll on their mental health more than ever all over the world.
A significant increase in mental health issues has been observed during Covid lockdown among people of United Kingdom and rest of the world, says a study. Being unsure about meeting with relatives again, losing job security, rising threat to health and changing government guidelines were major factors responsible for increasing anxiety and uncertainty among people, said study of Department of Psychology in University of Bath.
Cope up with mental illness rising in youth
Now it’s a big question how to cope up with mental health issues during coronavirus pandemic. Many studies have found out the more you keep yourself active and move your body the more you are likely to deal with increasing mental health issues during corona times. Good sleep and right food will work for you and your mental health.
Breathing exercises or breathwork are tried and tested remedies for rising stress, anxiety and depression among students and young workers. So, it’s important to keep yourself engaged in Yoga, breathwork, exercise, meditation and journaling. Also you can opt for aerobics, dance or any indoor sport that encourages you to move your body a lot.
You can also try to invest time in your indoor hobbies like singing, painting, crafting or online learning something new. When you are busy with hobbies, your mind will be happy doing the most favorite things it can ever do. Your mind will have no or less time to be in stress, anxiety or depression. And most importantly, you will be able to polish your skills in this time.
Work on making yourself comfortable with uncertainties. Weather it’s motivation or de-motivation, happiness or sadness, positive mood or negative mood, every emotion is a result of a situation. But it starts with how you are reacting to a situation from your inside. No doubt, the covid situation is gloomy. But you can take it as an opportunity to work on yourself and be a better person.
