Twice as many psychological counselling sessions for children and teenagers took place in Poland last year as in 2020, continuing an upward trend. The health minister noted that the state of young people’s mental health reveals the continuing trauma caused by the pandemic.
This diagnosis is supported by a new survey among educators and school psychologists, the vast majority of whom have noticed a deterioration in well-being among youths. Many pointed to the experience of the pandemic as the cause of more cases of depression, technology addiction, and anxiety disorders.
“We can see a huge increase in the interest or need for treatment [which is] exceeding all our expectations,” Adam Niedzielski, the health minister said yesterday during a visit to a youth mental health clinic. “It is very clear that the pandemic is not only about…lung complications or other diseases.”
Niedzielski, quoted by Interia, added that last year the number of psychological counselling sessions for children and teenagers was twice as it was in 2020 and two and a half times the figure for 2019. Over 120,000 patients benefited from the services of local children and youth mental health centres in 2021, almost five times more than in 2020.
“We see how enormous a trauma the pandemic is and has been in children’s mental health,” he added.
📊 Rośnie liczba pacjentów korzystających ze świadczeń w środowiskowych ośrodkach opieki psychologicznej dla dzieci i młodzieży. pic.twitter.com/6Fvr1USSmJ
— Ministerstwo Zdrowia (@MZ_GOV_PL) March 31, 2022
Meanwhile, 87% of school psychologists and educators have noticed a deterioration in the well-being of pupils, with almost half of them (45%) saying that the decline was significant, a new study conducted by the psychological magazine Małe Charaktery and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań has revealed.
Some 78% of the respondents said that more children and teenagers had approached them asking for help or intervention, reports radio RMF FM. Two thirds of them (67%) attributed an increased number of instances of depression to the experiences of the pandemic, while 59% said it had caused technology addiction and 54% anxiety disorders.
“In the current situation, there are so many needs that no system, even the most efficient one, would be able to cope with them,” said Karolina Appelt from Adam Mickiewicz University.
A recent report also revealed that the number of attempted suicides and deaths by suicide among children in Poland increased significantly last year, particularly among girls. Record numbers of suicide attempts among teenagers were recorded in 2021.
Improving the availability of specialists in local centres offering psychological support and counselling as well as increasing the number of such institutions were one of the pillars of the reform of the mental healthcare system for young people launched by the health ministry last year.
The three-stage system aims to move part of the burden of mental health support from psychiatry wards to local institutions offering services of psychologists and counsellors. Currently, there are 343 local centres helping young patients around Poland.
The 220-million-zloty (€48 million) package includes improvements to hospital infrastructure, the launch of a round-the-clock helpline, online support and prevention programmes, as well as easier access to specialists.
Recently, however, state funding was withdrawn from a helpline for children and youth, founded in 2008 – and which has managed to continue operating thanks to a crowdfunding campaign. The NGO behind the helpline says that young people need support more than ever amid the pandemic. Last year, the calls it received led to 800 interventions.
An audit ordered by Poland’s Supreme Audit Office (NIK) noted that remote learning during the pandemic worsened children’s mental and physical health. NIK criticised the education ministry for not introducing a support programme for children quickly enough.
Main image credit: Annie Spratt / Unsplash
Agnieszka Wądołowska is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza, Wysokie Obcasy, Duży Format, Midrasz and Kultura Liberalna
