For the past two years, psychologists and caregivers have been sounding the alarm over the number of children who need mental healthcare during the pandemic. How can we effectively address this issue in the year ahead?
Covid-19 and the measures that have been implemented to contain the spread of the virus in the past two years have disrupted nearly every aspect of children’s lives, and there is growing evidence that depression and anxiety have risen radically during the pandemic – even among young school children.
Before the pandemic, a mental health crisis was already brewing among children in South Africa struggling with abuse, eating disorders, bullying and racism, or diagnosed or undiagnosed mental health conditions.
Confidence Popela, a Grade 10 learner at DZJ Mtebule High School in Nkowankowa, Limpopo, can’t recall the last time she didn’t feel anxious. Her relationships with her closest friends suffered when her school went into remote teaching and learning last year. Popela now goes to school three days a week, as part of the Department of Basic Education’s phased reopening and rotational learning approach. She spends the other two days at home, studying alone.
“Staying at home is really stressful because I do not have…