Unicef: mental health of children and adolescents significantly worsened by Covid-19

The covid-19 epidemic has worsened the mental health of children and adolescents around the world, warned, in a report published today by the Unicef.

“The impact of the pandemic are important, but they are only the tip of the iceberg. Before (covid-19) even broke out, many children were suffering from mental health problems and were not receiving appropriate treatment,” Unicef Director-General Henrietta Fiore said in a statement.

The UN agency today released a report on the mental health of the world's children to mark the international mental health conference in Paris entitled “Mind our Rights, Now!”.

At global level “more than one in seven teenagers, aged 10 to 19, had been diagnosed with mental health problems” and “nearly 46,000 teenagers commit suicide each year, making suicide one of the top five causes of death for this age group,” according to Unicef.

However, as the report states, “only about 2% of national health budgets worldwide are devoted to mental health”.

As Unicef reports, the situation was exacerbated by the covid-19 pandemic and the restrictions it caused.

“At least one in seven children worldwide have been directly affected by the restrictive measures and more than 1.6 billion children have seen their education adversely affected.”, underlined Unicef.

“The disruption of daily life, education, recreational activities and concerns related to family income and health have caused many to feel fear, anger and anxiety about the future,” the report said.

Unicef calls for “immediate investment in the mental health of children and adolescents”.

“Mental health is an integral part of physical health (...) We have for too long, in both rich and poor countries, underestimated its importance and the importance of adequate investment in this area,” concluded Fior.