Impact Of Pandemic On Mental Health Of Students: Social Isolation, Delayed Examination And Boredom
With the pandemic ongoing for more than a year now in all the affected countries, the most effective management has been seen to be lockdown to reduce the widespread of the disease. Children and senior citizens were alerted to be under high-risk category, for which schools have gone digital and are running online from about two academic years. The digital world may have been proven boon to many but is likely to shape as a bane for children in the long term.
Many families and parents are voicing their concerns regarding change in children’s behaviour from the onset of lockdown and are approaching professionals to address these concerns. In young children and adolescents, the pandemic and lockdown have a greater impact on emotional and social development compared to that in the grown-ups.Home confinement of children and adolescents is connected with uncertainty and apprehension leading to disruption in their education, physical activities and opportunities for socialization.
Social distancing has been experienced as social isolation by children. Social isolation is bound to bring its negative effects, as we are social beings and gain most of the development through socialisation mode. Not being able to take advantages of socialisation, children are prone to have low self-confidence, reduced peer contact, lowered cognitive stimulation, poor social skills, increased temper tantrums and underdeveloped social maturity.
The delay in examination is another factor impacting the mental health of children currently. The uncertainty is likely to bring stress and nervousness to them. Repetitive preparation for examination may lead to reduced motivation for academics, as it is not bringing any outputs. Long standing and increasing stress opens the path to development of some psychological problems.
Absence of structured setting of the school for a long duration result in disruption in routine, boredom and lack of innovative ideas for engaging in various academic and extracurricular activities. Some children have expressed lower levels of affect for not being able to play outdoors, not meeting friends and not engaging in the in-person school activities(Lee, 2020; Liu et al 2020; Zhai & Du, 2020). The excessive free time excites children to engage in activities having exploitative vulnerability, like increased usage of phones/laptop, unsupervised play, financial engagements, impulsive actions, etc.
Parents have been reporting that children have become clingier, attention seeking and more dependent due to the long-term shift in their routine. It is presumed that children might resist going to school after the lockdown gets over and may face difficulty in establishing rapport with their mentors after the schools reopen. Consequently, the constraint of movement imposed on them can have a long-term negative effect on their overall psychological wellbeing (Lee 2020).
There is a need to ameliorate children and adolescents’ access to mental health support services geared towards providing measures for developing healthy coping mechanisms during the current crisis. Following are some suggestions for it:
1. Excessive internet use should be avoided to cut down from irresponsible use of social media, internet gaming, and other exploitative alternatives.
2. More non-gadget related in door activities and games are to be encouraged.
3. Taking up creative pursuits like art, music, dance and others can help to manage mental health and well-being for everyone.
4. It is crucial to value the peer support system and parents should encourage adolescents to keep in touch with their peers and communicate with them about their feelings and common problems they face.
5. Schools and teachers are suggested to conduct creative online academic and non-academic sessions by making their classes more interactive, engaging students in the form of quizzes, puzzles, small competitions, and giving more creative home assignments to break the monotony of the online.
6. Teachers have a role to play in the promotion of mental health among students. They can discuss what is wellbeing and how it is important for students.
7. School counsellors/teachers can assist in teaching simple exercises, including deep breathing, muscle relaxation, distraction, and positive self -talk.
Although the infection of COVID-19 might have affected the least in children but its collateral damages will be seen the most in the population. Even though the nature and extent of this impact depend on several vulnerability factors, there is a need for easy access to mental health services by using both face to face as well as digital platforms.For this collaborative network of parents, psychiatrists, psychologists, pediatricians, community volunteers, and NGOs are required.
About the author -
Ambika Chawla, Clinical Psychologist, Kaleidoscope- a unit of Dr. Bakshi’s Healthcare
