BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – In view of the increased mental disorders in children and adolescents in the corona pandemic, doctors are warning of renewed school and daycare closures in autumn. “We currently do not know whether the children’s resilience will be sufficient to overcome the disorders and deficits,” said the President of the Professional Association of Pediatricians (BVKJ), Thomas Fischbach, on Friday. It is therefore also important that educational institutions remain open, taking protective measures into account.
When it comes to the increase in mental disorders, the BVKJ relies on surveys by the health insurance company DAK, which analyzed data from 800,000 children and adolescents in Germany. According to this, compared to 2020, a total of 42 percent more young people between the ages of 12 and 18 were admitted to clinics for emotional disorders – including depression and anxiety disorders – and eleven percent more for school children between the ages of 10 and 14.
Depressive episodes increased in 2021 compared to 2020 by 28 percent among 12 to 18 year olds and by 27 percent among 10 to 14 year olds. In addition, more children and adolescents were affected by eating and anxiety disorders: 17 percent more adolescents and 21 percent more school children were treated in hospital for eating disorders. Due to anxiety disorders, it was three percent more among adolescents and 25 percent more among schoolchildren.
“Of course we need more therapy places to shorten waiting times – that was a drama even before the pandemic,” said the BVKJ President. He regretted the failed introduction of mandatory vaccinations from the age of 18: “In our view, it is still irresponsible that this did not happen.”
With a view to the Ukraine war, which is also affecting the psyche of Ukrainian children, Fischbach said: “As children’s and youth doctors, we see the traumatized children and youths in our practices. We experience the fear for their fathers and grandparents and their grief over the forced uprooting.”/oli/DP/nas