COVID-19 and mental health: the fallout for children and young people

More nurses and more support are needed to cope with a growing mental health crisis

A report by children’s commissioner for England Anne Longfield found mental health services during COVID-19 are ‘nowhere near’ what is needed.

This follows an NHS Digital study in July 2020 which estimated that one in six children were likely to have a mental health condition, and that incidence of clinically significant mental health disorders had increased by 50% in three years.

• RELATED: COVID-19: how it is affecting children and what nurses can do to help

The information for Ms Longfield’s report was compiled at the start of the pandemic and the NHS Digital report three months into it. Neither is bang up to date but both add to growing concerns about how children and young people are coping during the crisis.

Children have not been at the forefront of the battle with COVID-19 but they are bearing the brunt of it long-term. The NHS Digital report hints at some of the worries affecting children: family arguments, loneliness and poor sleep are among them.

Waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services are long and patchy

Plans for mental health support teams in schools and the NHS, which can be provided digitally, are welcomed, but it is well known that NHS services are understaffed and underfunded, with waiting lists for child and adolescent mental health services too long and patchy depending on where you live.

• RELATED: ‘Urgent action needed’ on staffing in children’s mental health services

Figures show that the number of nurses working in mental health services for children have fallen in the past decade and there are calls for more nurses to cope with the new challenges. However, children’s nurses, school nurses and health visitors are also dealing with the fallout and need support as well to prevent COVID-19 affecting children for the rest of their lives.

• RELATED: How will the new strain of COVID-19 affect children and young people?

Christine Walker is editor, Nursing Children and Young People

@RCNi_Christine

Find out more

• The State of Children’s Mental Health Services 2020-21 (Children’s Commissioner)
• Survey conducted in July 2020 shows one in six children having a probable mental disorder (NHS Digital)

Correction

The January cover of Nursing Children and Young People featured a child using an asthma inhaler with a spacer and a mask to illustrate an article on trends and variations. Unfortunately, as some readers have pointed out, the mask was upside down. Apologies for this error.