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California PACEs Action

Anxiety, Depression and Racism while Sheltering-in-Place [childrennow.org]

 

By Lishaun Francis 

June 23, 2020

The shelter-in-place orders due to COVID-19 ignited widespread alarm, anxiety and depression for adults concerned about interrupting their daily routines, falling ill and maintaining their economic stability. Simultaneously, children and youth were struggling with the same fears. School closures, disconnection from friends and an abrupt stop to community resources put additional strain on an already tenuous hold on mental wellness for many young people. In fact, children struggled with their mental health prior to COVID-19. Between 2015 and 2017, an estimated 16 percent of California’s 9th and 11th graders considered attempting suicide in the previous year,[1] and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 31.5 percent of high school students nationwide “experience persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.”  While most youth worry about issues like mass shootings and climate change, youth of color are disproportionately more stressed about housing stability, personal debt and food insecurity than their white counterparts; concerns that have only been exacerbated for families due to the coronavirus.

This “layering on” of additional, ongoing stress due to the impacts of structural racism deserves more inquiry. For example, widespread misinformation and fearmongering about coronavirus caused a significant increase in overtly racist and xenophobic attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (API). Some students reported disturbing in-school experiences of assault, bullying, and isolation, based solely on the mistaken belief that being Asian made them responsible for the coronavirus outbreak. In addition to being hurtful, these incidents also have a lasting impact on the psyche of API students as racist experiences raise stress levels and contribute to the anxiety and depression of youth. While school closures may have put a stop to the on-campus incidents, many are still anxious about their safety within communities while having limited resources to get support for anxiety and depression.

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