Mater exposes pandemic impact on the kids

With pandemic lockdowns causing a shock 40 per cent surge in cases at a Brisbane mental health unit, we reveal the signs of children in trouble.

School closures and lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the mental health of the state’s young people, with a 40 per cent surge in those being treated for anxiety and depression at Mater Hospital Brisbane’s Emotional Health Unit.

The unit, based at the hospital’s South Brisbane campus, treats adolescents and young adults for conditions such as mood, anxiety and personality disorders, and substance abuse.

Clinicians say the disruption caused to young people’s lives by lockdowns, the loss of support networks and the cancellation of “rite of passage” events have taken a psychological toll on a generation of young people.

The unit’s nurse practitioner Chris Leary said the rise of working from home had also led to more parents identifying the signs of anxiety and depression in the children and seeking help.

While some patients are having to wait up to 18 months to see a psychiatrist, nurse practitioners such as Mr Leary are able to see patients without a wait or referral.

“While sometimes the signs may not be so overt, symptoms could include changes in a child’s behaviour, a decrease in their level of functioning and normal happy-go-lucky self, spending more time in their room and not interacting, school avoidance or school refusal as well as changes around appetite and sleep,” Mr Leary said.

Mater Emotional Health Unit manager Shannan Halse said child and youth mental health problems, including anxiety and depression, had worsened due to the school closures but also the cancellation of sport events.

“It’s no surprise that school and university students who were being supported through mental health issues at our clinic prior to the pandemic are now back, and needing more support than ever,” Ms Halse said.

Moreton Bay region mother-of-four Chelsea Perry said counselling and mental health support at Mater had eased the anxiety of her 12-year-old son Jacob, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and is on the autism spectrum.

“The lockdowns really affected Jacob, and the rest of our family,” Ms Perry said.

“The loss of routine and not having contact with his school teachers meant he wasn’t able to cope and that really heightened his anxiety.

“He found homeschooling absolutely mind-boggling.”