50% youth prone to anxiety, depression due to pandemic fallouts: ILO survey

Over 12,000 responses were received from 112 countries, with a large proportion coming from educated youths with access to the Internet.

MENTAL HEALTH WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2020 - 12:22

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Half of the youth between 18 to 29 years are subject to anxiety or depression-causing circumstances due to fallouts from the pandemic, according to a survey by the International Labour Organization. The survey found that one in two (i.e., 50 percent) young people across the world are possibly subject to anxiety or depression, while 17 percent are probably affected by it.

The ILO's 'Youth and COVID-19: impacts on jobs, education, rights and mental well-being' survey aimed to capture the immediate effects of the pandemic on the lives of youths (aged 18 to 29 years) with regard to employment, education, mental health, rights and social activism. Over 12,000 responses were received from 112 countries, with a large proportion coming from educated youths with access to the Internet.

It found that a third are uncertain of their future career prospects due to the pandemic and if if urgent action is not taken, youths are at the risk of suffering severe and long-lasting adverse impacts from the pandemic.

"Severe disruption to learning and working, compounded by the health crisis, has seen a deterioration in young people's mental well-being," the survey said.

Mental well-being is lowest for young women and younger youths between the ages of 18 and 24 years.

Young people whose education or work was either disrupted or had stopped completely were almost twice as likely to be affected by anxiety or depression as compared to those who continued to be employed or whose education was not affected.

"This underscores the interlinkages that exist between mental well-being, educational success and labour market integration," it said.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted every aspect of our lives. Even before the onset of the crisis, the social and economic integration of young people was an ongoing challenge. Now, unless urgent action is taken, young people are likely to suffer severe and long-lasting impacts from the pandemic, the report said on Tuesday.

Among those who thought that their education would be delayed or might fail, 22 percent were likely to be affected by anxiety or depression, compared to 12 percent of students whose education remained on track.

According to the report, 38 percent of young people are uncertain of their future career prospects, with the COVID-19 crisis expected to create more obstacles in the labour market and to lengthen the transition from school to work.

The coronavirus, which first emerged in China's Wuhan city, has claimed over 7.4 lakh lives with more than 20 million confirmed cases across the world so far.

The ILO survey said some youths have already felt the direct impact of the pandemic, with one in six youths having to stop work since the virus outbreak.

Many young workers are employed in highly-affected sectors, such as support, services or sales-related work, making them more vulnerable to the economic consequences of the pandemic.

The report said 73 percent of the young people, who were either studying or combining study an work before the onset of the crisis, experienced school closures though all of them were not able to transition into online and distance learning.

The coronavirus has left one in eight young people (13 percent) without any access to courses, teaching or training -- a situation particularly acute among the youth in low-income countries and one that serves to underline the sharp digital divide that exists between regions.

It added that despite the best efforts of schools and training institutions to provide continuity through online delivery, 65 percent of the young people reported having learnt less since the pandemic began.

Fifty-one percent believe their education will be delayed, and nine percent fear their education would suffer and might even fail.

The pandemic is also inflicting a heavy toll on young workers, destroying their employment and undermining their career prospects.

One in six young people (17 percent) who were employed before the outbreak, stopped working altogether, most notably younger workers aged 18 to 24 years, and those in clerical support, services, sales, crafts and related trades.

Working hours among the employed youths fell by nearly a quarter (i.e. by an average of two hours a day) and two out of five young people (42 percent) reported a reduction in their income.

Young people in low-income countries are the most exposed to reductions in working hours and the resultant contraction in income, the survey said.

ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said, "The pandemic is inflicting multiple shocks on young people. It is not only destroying their jobs and employment prospects, but also disrupting their education and training and having a serious impact on their mental well-being."

Despite the setbacks, the youth have continued to mobilise and speak out about the crisis. According to the survey, a quarter of the young people have done some kind of volunteer work during the pandemic.

Ensuring that their voices are heard is critical for a more inclusive COVID-19 response, the ILO said, adding that giving youth a chance to articulate their needs and ideas during the decision-making procedures improves effectiveness of policies and programmes.

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How you can help your kid fight COVID-19 anxiety

Sometimes it seems as though the pandemic is all we talk about.

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CORONAVIRUS CORONAVIRUS THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2020 - 16:24

By Steven Siegel

The news coverage on COVID-19 is pervasive, persistent, and in my view as a professor of psychiatry, perilous. Sometimes it seems as though the pandemic is all we talk about.

As difficult as this experience is, it’s easier for educated adults than it is for children. We adults look through a lens of life experience; our perspective helps get us through. Less clear is how “all-COVID-all-the-time” impacts children who take it in without that perspective. The issue is particularly important to consider as many kids prepare to go back to school and others get ready to learn online.

When children discern that adults around them don’t fully understand something – or, in the case of COVID-19, that we can’t completely guarantee their safety – they might feel a sense of helplessness. Insecurity and fear will rule. A child may begin to believe the world is a dangerous place, and that the only way to survive is to be defensive, or worse, aggressive.

As children go through this crisis, they don’t have to be afraid. But as parents, we must lead the way. We must teach them to embrace the power all of us have – and then use it to make choices that create better outcomes.

As a practicing psychiatrist and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Southern California, I can tell you this is possible, even during a pandemic. As parents, teachers and citizens, it is our responsibility to provide children with context, limit catastrophizing and emphasize responsibility and control.

The four skills your child needs

Here are four skills you can start teaching your child today:

A healthy respect for what is dangerous. We’ve already told our children that walking across a street without looking can be fatal. Use crosswalks, follow the traffic lights, and look both ways, we always say. Similarly, we can treat COVID-19 as something out there, like a speeding car, but also something that can be anticipated and avoided. Through the choices we make, we can influence the outcome.
Make good choices. Wear a mask, stay away from others when outside and wash your hands when you touch anything that others may have touched. That doesn’t guarantee safety, but it greatly reduces the chance of getting sick. It also provides a child with a sense of control – and empowerment. Children learn that following the rules is a way to stay safe, and that the world, for all its dangers, is still a place where you can create a healthy and positive environment.
Respect for others. Wearing a mask in public protects other people, including parents, grandparents, neighbors and friends. Not wearing one shows disrespect for them. COVID-19 can be a tool to teach children that others matter, even if they’re strangers. Putting on a mask tells them they are not the center of the universe; instead, they are part of a society where the collective benefit is important. Disregard others, and others will have license to disregard you. Inherent in that message: You are not alone.
Learn to accept ambiguity. It’s OK if we don’t know. So much of society is built on the premise that it’s possible to understand everything. But smart people understand no one knows everything.

Teach humility and trust

Years of training are required to understand how viruses form, mutate and spread. Decades of work are essential to obtain a deep un

derstanding of disease mechanisms and how therapies work.

But only humility and trust are needed to accept that doctors and scientists, with those decades of training, are collectively working to solve the problem. If it takes time, it only means the problem is difficult and won’t be worked out in a few days or weeks or even months. Tell your children that some things are not a quick fix, and that’s okay.

Putting all this into practice is doable. Minimize discussions about COVID-19 to times when there’s truly something to say. This will not be every day. When discussion takes place, emphasize that much can be done to reduce risk to ourselves and others. Make it clear that smart, capable, and compassionate people are working on the problem. Most of all, let them know this too shall pass, as long as we make smart choices and don’t panic. Do this, and your child can develop valuable life skills that last, not just during this crisis, but for a lifetime.

(Steven Siegel, Professor and Chair, Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California)

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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1 in 10 death on railway track deaths from January to July 2020

Read more at:
https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/coronavirus/news/1-in-10-track-deaths-from-jan-to-july-was-a-suicide-wr-data/articleshow/77514716.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Over the same period last year, only 1 in 25 such deaths was registered as a suicide; CR also sees an increase.Between January and July 2019, WR’s Mumbai division recorded 828 deaths on tracks, of which 32 - or 3.86 per cent - were registered as suicides. Over the same period this year, the the number of track deaths fell by almost 50 per cent to 436 . However, 43 of these - or 9.86 per cent - were registered as suicides. The proportion of suicides thus increased from one in every 25 track deaths in Jan-July 2019, to one in every 10 this year.