Young Persons Counselling Amidst the Global Pandemic
Often, when people think of counselling and therapy services, they think of adults seeking help for mood and behaviour disorders, marriage problems, or any number of other conditions and struggles. However, young persons counselling is an often-overlooked element of therapy that is vital to address the struggles and concerns of one of the most emotionally vulnerable populations—those that are slowly growing and developing into adults.
An unfortunate reality of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is that the effects of lockdown and other health protection measures negatively impacted the mental health of young people. The Royal College of Psychiatrists published figures from the National Health Service that shows that an additional 80,226 children and young people received counselling and mental health services between April and December of 2020, which is a jump of twenty-eight percent from 2019 numbers, and as the pandemic continues, these figures rise. However, the staff at Horizon Plymouth are specially trained to handle young persons counselling and understand the emotions and fears that young people may be dealing with in the wake of the pandemic. Below are some of the obstacles that can negatively impact young people who are dealing with the effects of quarantine and lockdown and that may require counselling and therapy with Horizon Plymouth to properly manage and overcome.
- Feelings of frustration and uncertainty about the future: Young people already often feel as though they have very little control over their own lives, and the turbulent and frightening events of the pandemic exacerbated these feelings in many cases. Many young people have reported feeling frustrated and hopeless, and in severe cases these feelings developed into anxiety disorders, panic attacks, self-harm, or eating disorders.
- Isolation: School closures, activity cancellations, and months on end of being on lockdown and quarantine inside homes with minimal face-to-face social contact took its toll on young people, who rely on their social relationships to support their mental health. Many young people have reported feeling new symptoms of anxiety and depression as a result of this isolation. Additionally, young people who were already receiving counselling or therapy saw a temporary halt to their services, resulting in a relapse of their symptoms.
- An inability to cope with changes and fears: Children and young people are still undergoing emotional development, and often don’t know how to voice their fears and anxieties, which results in a worsening of their mental health. Parents and mature adults found the pandemic incredibly detrimental to their mental health, so imagine the impact that fear for their health and safety had on young people. Although the lockdowns were necessary, the uncertainty that resulted left a mark on the mental health of many young people as they struggled to understand this new reality.
- Expected independence: As though coping with the anxiety, depression, and hopelessness that resulted from lockdowns and widespread public fear were not enough of a burden to place on young people, they were also expected to engage in virtual school rather independently. Although the teachers undoubtedly did the best they could under the circumstances, the students were expected to take on the large portion of their education themselves, and to do it in an entirely unprecedented situation—virtual learning. This lack of in-person social relationships combined with the pressure to stay engaged and responsible in such an uninviting environment only added to the burdens and stress that vulnerable young people experienced.
Horizon Plymouth’s expertise in young person counselling allows us to effectively address all of these concerns, and to hep young people work through their emotions and anxiety that may have developed as they were forced to undergo something so momentous at such a young age.
We have the added benefit of immediate appointments available to bypass the months-long waiting period with the National Health Services, Horizon’s young person counselling can get your child, young person or loved one the help that they need right away, whether it be online or face-to-face. Contact Horizon Plymouth today to schedule your appointment. Click the Book Now link today.