Two-thirds of children and youth in British Columbia are struggling with mild to moderate mental health challenges during the pandemic, up from one third before the arrival of COVID-19, says new research from B.C. Children’s Hospital.
“This information is going to be very useful for what they call the shadow pandemic, or what’s going to fall out of the pandemic for years to come. It will tell us what kind of resources are needed and where geographically,” said study lead Dr. Quynh Doan, a pediatrician at the hospital and a UBC professor.
“Everybody’s realizing that there’s going to be a huge mental health cost to this pandemic.”
Preliminary results from Doan’s Child and Youth Mental Health During a Pandemic study found two thirds of participants reported mood issues, anxiety and suicidal ideation, deemed by researchers to be of mild to moderate concern. This compares to a study done two years ago, which found one third of youth at B.C. Children’s Hospital for non-mental-health issues experienced these psychiatric challenges. Read the rest of this article at The Vancouver Sun…
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