Ontario Reopening: What Does It Mean for Children and Youth?
Blog post written by Mingqiao Du, Straight Up Health
Over the past 16 months, the COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on various aspects of people’s lives: economic, physical, social, and emotional. Now, it finally looks like we are approaching the light at the end of the tunnel. While Ontario gradually reopens, we remember that one of the most vulnerable groups to the past 16 months of pandemic-related mental health challenges is youth.
What effects will the reopening have on youth? We think the following points might be worth considering.
1. It will take time for many to recover from the aftermath of pandemic-related mental distress and instability.
Emerging literature suggests the presence of various traumatic stressors related to the pandemic, leading to an array of mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and more. According to McMaster Children’s Hospital, youth admitted for medical support after a suicide attempt has skyrocketed during the lockdowns, tripling over a four-month period since the beginning of 2021. Many mental health experts worry that these pandemic-related symptoms might last well beyond the reopening into the future of our lives. Some experts say that after being forced to bear the burden of adapting to online learning, many families with school-age children, especially those with children who have behavioural challenges or other special needs, now suffer from long-term instability that simply reopening the province won’t fix. For example, unfortunately, many couples have experienced marital issues directly or indirectly related to stress caused by the pandemic, and that in turn causes distress in children and youth in these families. Therefore, we can safely assume that the aftermath of the pandemic won’t just suddenly go away as Ontario reopens. Instead, it will take a long time for many children and youth to recover from these negative effects.
2. The reopening will provide youth opportunities for increased in-person socialization, but that might feel draining at first.
There is no doubt that the pandemic has changed the way people socialize with one another, with the restrictions on in-person gatherings and the requirements of mask-wearing and social distancing. Research from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) shows that social isolation, including both the cancellation of important events and the loss of in-person social interactions, was strongly associated with mental health deterioration in children and youth. With that in mind, we might think that the lift of restrictions on in-person gatherings will certainly give a boost to youth mental health, but that might not entirely be the case. While Ontario’s reopening will certainly provide increased opportunities for in-person social interactions, many youth might find that their “social battery” now drains faster than before the pandemic. A BBC article explored the pandemic-related phenomenon of what they call “social hangover”, meaning that more and more people report feeling particularly overwhelmed after getting back to a life with relatively more socialization since public health measures started to ease. Many are shocked to find that after a year of quietness and isolation, they now feel exhausted after going out with a friend or visiting a family member. According to clinical psychologist Dr. Julie Smith, this is natural after a long period of lockdown. Since what we do every day becomes our comfort zone, when we start to do something new and different—even though that used to be our “normal”—our brain experiences a spike in stress. Even though this won’t last forever, we can assume that due to this effect, many youth will find that it takes time for them to get used to socializing with others again.
3. Some youth will have improvements in mental health, while others could in fact experience the opposite effect.
The same research from SickKids also indicates that among different children and youth, having a pre-existing psychiatric or neurodevelopmental diagnosis was associated with both improvements and deterioration in mental health since the beginning of the pandemic. For some children and youth with pre-existing conditions, the stay-at-home directives may have provided relief from sources of stress, therefore improving symptoms of anxiety or irritability. However, for others, especially those with diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), the loss of structure, consistency, and familiar social interactions actually had more negative impacts on their emotional well-being. Another factor worth considering is bullying in school. Youth who suffer from bullying from their peers might have found significant relief during school closure and could be subjected to harm again once school reopens. Based on this evidence, we can assume that Ontario’s reopening will result in different changes in different individuals’ mental health. Not every child or youth is going to experience the reopening in the same way. Some might be thrilled about being able to see their friends more, going to more social events, and having more structure in their life, while others might in fact dread it.
Taking all of the above points into consideration, it is natural for children and youth and their parents to have mixed feelings about Ontario’s reopening. There will be goodness and relief, but there will also be many challenges. We are holding both realities in our hands. However, I have every confidence that as a community, we together can strive to support our children and youths in the best way possible. Each individual child and youth is different, and they will all experience the reopening in different ways, thus needing different types of support. But what is also true is that each and every single one of them has their own unique strengths, and we as a community can empower them and help them find new hope in this daunting but exciting, and surely memorable moment of our society.