Concerns over impact of lockdown on student mental health

The Netherlands Psychiatric Association has told local media that closed higher education institutions and vocational schools threaten to leave young people with permanent mental health issues, reports NL Times.

“These educational institutions should also open as soon as possible,” association chairman Elnathan Prinsen told Trouw newspaper. The call is supported by higher education unions, the universities of the Netherlands and the student union LSVb.

“The lockdown is intended to prevent illness, but it is the lockdown that is making people sick,” said Prinsen. Child and youth psychiatrists are busier than ever, and students more often report mental health problems like stress, loneliness, anxiety and depression. “Serious problems that can lead to a mental disorder,” Prinsen said. Mental disorders make functioning in everyday life more difficult.
Full report on the NL Times site