The Not-So-Unexpected Mental Health Crisis Following in the Wake of COVID Lockdowns and Mandates
An entire generation experienced critical years of social and emotional development stolen from them.
As we approach the 3-year anniversary of COVID-19 lockdowns, let us take a moment to reflect on those choices made by public health officials ‘in our best interest.’
“15-days to slow the spread” they said. That, of course, was a lie. They propagated the idea that mandates were not only a good thing, but necessary for the safety of our loved ones. We now know that mandates, whether it be lockdowns, masks, or vaccination programs, did little to manage the viral spread.
While there has been a significant amount of energy spent debunking the effectiveness of lockdown measures, far less attention has been allocated to the detrimental health consequences of lockdowns. Whereas statistics can be cherry-picked to fit your narrative as to whether or not the lockdowns possessed any benefit at all, you will see, for the most part, bipartisan agreement when it comes to the negative impacts to mental health.
Let’s start at the top: the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO indicates:
“One of the biggest global crises in generations, the COVID-19 pandemic has had severe and far-reaching repercussions for health systems, economies, and societies… mental health has been widely affected… for some COVID-19 has sparked or amplified much more serious mental health problems.”1
Indeed, mental illness has seen a dramatic increase in incidence rates (new cases) and a decompensation of existing illness throughout the pandemic response.
One of the most susceptible groups, of course, are children and adolescents. Even before the pandemic, we have witnessed an uptrend in mental illness among this age bracket. Once Covid policies were implemented in early 2020, children and adolescents bore the brunt of lockdowns and mandates. An entire generation experienced critical years of social and emotional development stolen from them. They were forced to hide their true selves beneath a mask. They were forced to interact with peers from behind a computer screen. Many were then forced to receive the jab simply to participate, once in-person events restarted lest they be ostracized.
Let us not forget that while it is true this viral illness did claim many lives, children and adolescents were nearly absent from the mortality statistics. Yet, they were the most affected by draconian Covid measures.
The decline in mental health as a consequence to lockdowns were well theorized by many health experts, including those well-versed within the field of mental health. One of those experts was Dr. Mark McDonald, MD who published a book titled, “United States of Fear: How America Fell Victim to a Mass Delusional Psychosis.” The book takes a deep dive into the way in which fear was weaponized against Americans with observable (and predictable) effects on stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, domestic violence, and suicidal ideation.
Dr. McDonald is one among many who have opposed lockdowns (and other pandemic response measures) with a fervent warning towards mental health decline.
Nevertheless, warnings like these came very early on during the pandemic. Now that we are 3-years out from lockdown implementation in America, what does the data say?
The Alarming Data
A recent study looked at trends for suicidal ideation-related ER visits in the state of Illinois for children between the ages of 5-19 during pandemic years. The results are truly alarming. Over 81,000 ED visits for suicidal ideation were reported during the period of study. Hospitalizations increased by 57% between fall 2019 and fall 2020. The study indicates,
“…there was a significant increase in hospitalization through the ED between fall 2019 and fall 2020, a potential marker of the severity of presenting symptoms among children experiencing SI [suicidal ideation].”2
Children and adolescents were not the only susceptible group affected by lockdowns. The following study published by the Journal of Criminal Justice in March 2021 paints a dismal picture reporting that, “45% of women had experienced some form of violence, either directly or indirectly during the first year of the pandemic.”3
While not explicitly stating these women suffered mental illness, what might the experience (or threat) of violence do to the mental health of these women? Moreover, we must ask ourselves: what precipitated those perpetrators towards violent acts against these women? Presumably most of these perpetrators are men and likely close to the affected women (as is the case for most acts of violence). Why the dramatic increase in violence? Well, we know that one of the symptoms of mental illness (particularly with mood disorders and substance use) is irritability, agitation, and aggression. No wonder we see devastating statistics like this.
Let’s run through a ‘not-so-hypothetical’ scenario.
Pandemic response stimulates fear and isolation.
Lockdowns shut down the economy.
Some become unemployed. Some transition to remote work.
Families are ordered to stay at home and forced to cohabitate without typical support structures.
Without respite, tensions at home rise.
Mothers, fathers, and children begin to suffer symptoms of mental illness.
Without healthy release valves (due to societal shutdown), maladaptive methods to cope are sought out.
Substance use increases.
Domestic violence increases.
Self-harm and suicidality increase.
We know this to be true as evidenced by another study investigating the effects of state lockdown policies and symptoms of mental illness relating to substance use. This study showed an increase of PHQ-4 scores by 1.70 during lockdowns as well as an increase in alcohol for management. In other words, the severity of anxiety and depression increased during this time with alcohol playing a significant role in the alleviation of those symptoms.4,5 Of course, substance use is simply ‘borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.’ Substance use, and addiction, carries a whole slew of negative consequences, even when the primary anxiety or mood symptoms are ‘dealt with.’
If you are someone who is skeptical of scientific publications for any number of probable biases or ulterior motives, you need not look further than within your community to see the negative effects towards mental health from Covid policies in recent years.
Simply ask your primary care doctor for a mental health referral. See how long the waiting list might be. Many patients are experiencing 3-6 month wait times simply to meet with a mental health specialist within their insurance network. Want to fast-track and seek a private pay provider? These folks are filling up fast and now booking out with similar waits. Even more tragic is that these timelines are typically significantly longer for children and adolescents.
So then, what should our children do when they are suffering from acute or chronic mental illness and need relief? The Illinois study referenced above paints a clear picture of the reality we face: children and adolescents are using the Emergency room for mental health care.
Remember that post-Covid mental health issues appear to be a bipartisan issue? Even left-wing media outlets like CNN are admitting the reality of mental health decline.6
On a recent episode of ‘The View,’ host Sunny Hostin proclaimed:
“I’m a little nervous because teens are in a lot of trouble, there’s a mental health crisis. I’ve seen it in my children. They are in trouble now because they don’t know how to speak to each other, and they were out of school, and they were homebound.”7
When both sides of the political aisle agree on an existing threat, particularly among our children, we ought to take notice.