Covid, one in 4 children have clinical symptoms of depression, one in 5 has anxiety disorders: double compared to before the pandemic

The incidence of depression e anxiety among adolescents it has doubled compared to before the pandemic. Specifically, one in 4 adolescents, in Italy and in the world, has clinical symptoms of depression and one in 5 signs of an anxiety disorder. This is revealed by an extensive meta-analysis just published in Jama Pediatrics, which he included 29 studies conducted on over 80 thousand young people. Especially at risk older children (more exposed than children), who have been affected by restrictions and the consequent impossibility of living together with their peers, fundamental moments of growth. The confirmation also comes from a second study, on 1,500 children and adolescents, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

A situation that can unfortunately have negative consequences in the long term: it has in fact been shown that suffering from depression during childhood and adolescence is associated as adults with worse health – not just mental – and with greater difficulties in relationships and in life. general. This is especially true for anyone who has suffered in persistent manner of depressive symptomsExperts warn that being constantly ‘subdued’, especially during adolescence, has more negative repercussions than a single depressive episode, even very early, if this is then resolved. It is therefore necessary, according to the specialists who took part in the congress of the Italian Society of NeuroPsicoPharmacology (Sinpf), “to intercept mental distress in children and intervene, using the most appropriate tools for each case and taking into account the peculiarities associated with young age” .

“Having psychological distress makes us more vulnerable, makes our immune system more fragile. Having a depressive situation increases the possibility of getting sick with Covid by 8 times “, also underlined the president of the National Council of the Order of Psychologists (Cnop), David Lazzari. And he continued focusing on the (complex) situation of psychological support offered in the public sphere: “It is not only the small number of psychologists in the National Health Service, but the lack of organization services that keep people away from the public response. Today, despite the significant increase in the demand for psychological assistance, the response to this increasingly widespread and felt need is almost exclusively private. The growing psychological suffering of citizens worries us a lot. ‘Psychopandemic’ is not an empty slogan created by psychologists “, he continued,” but a problem to which we have a duty to give effective and immediate answers, before it is too late “.