Thread by @bopinion

This won’t come as a surprise: New research shows that the pandemic is disproportionately impacting children and young people’s mental health.

This might come as a surprise: Their smartphones might be able to help bloom.bg/2N26dOg

The nuances bear thinking about:

➡️The older the child, the greater the chance of being affected
➡️Girls are suffering more than boys

Most aren’t getting any help bloom.bg/2N26dOg

The virus has left many young people facing significant distress in the form of:

➡️Anxiety
➡️Withdrawal
➡️Suicidal thoughts

Given that half of all adult mental health issues start by age 14, this isn’t a problem that can be put off to deal with later bloom.bg/2N26dOg

Experts advise parents to get kids moving and ensure they eat well and sleep enough.

It’s wise advice, but try telling a teenager in a major funk that a walk around the block and the occasional vegetable might be better than bingeing on TikTok at 3am
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Part of the answer, at least for some, is getting kids to better utilize the smart devices they are already glued to.

Apps focused on mental health support can help fill in the gaps left by school closures and an overburdened health-care system bloom.bg/2N26dOg

The first challenge is understanding what kind of support is needed.

➡️One study found that 16% of those aged 5-16 have a probable mental disorder, up from 10.8% in 2017
➡️More than 27% of women & 13% of men aged 17-22 now report having a mental disorder bloom.bg/2N26dOg

The issues are compounded for poorer children.

Young people with mental health problems are more than twice as likely to be from families that are falling behind on bills. These same kids are also suffering the greatest learning losses bloom.bg/2N26dOg

There’s been a surge in digital mental health aids, including some that focus on kids

While we wait to regain access to schools & expand support from health care systems, they could help prevent the pandemic’s emotional wounds from leaving long-term scars bloom.bg/2N26dOg

Apps provide:

📱Chat rooms, messaging or even one-on-one therapy sessions
📱Anonymity
📱Flexibility

They also appeal to adolescents who already spend much of their lives online bloom.bg/2N26dOg

One of the more developed platforms is from Kooth, the U.K.’s largest provider of digital mental health services for young people.

It says demand for services was up 61% between March & Oct. 2020, compared with the year before bloom.bg/2N26dOg

Since the start of the pandemic, the youth mental health charity @stem4org has seen more than 500,000 downloads of its free, NHS-approved apps:

📱Calm Harm (to discourage self-harm)
📱Clear Fear (to help manage anxiety)
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The numbers suggest such apps will become more common if they prove effective.

That remains the big question. Although there are encouraging studies on digital mental health support in adults, the evidence for the impact on young people is still thin bloom.bg/2N26dOg

Around 92% of Stem4 app users say the apps helped reduce the urge to self-harm and symptoms of anxiety at the time of use.

But the apps don’t profess to assess or “treat” a problem; rather they’re meant to act as aids bloom.bg/2N26dOg

Bear in mind that young people’s mental health needs weren’t served all that well before the pandemic, so much more will need to be done.

The upside now will be greater awareness and a larger suite of tools they can turn to for support bloom.bg/2N26dOg