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EDITORIAL: Effects of social isolation require sharp focus on youngsters' mental health

Buffalo News - 8/2/2020

Aug. 1--The coronavirus pandemic has put a strain on countless lives, with more than 150,000 deaths in the United States linked to Covid-19. Thousands have lost their jobs or seen their businesses collapse. There is also a potential health crisis, and not just the one that shows up in daily Covid-19 statistics.

For many people of all ages, the effects of the pandemic have been destructive to their mental health. The stresses come in many forms, but one in particular -- social isolation -- takes a heavy toll on young people. That must be part of the calculus for all who decide whether school this fall will include in-person learning. And should a resurgence of Covid cases make it necessary for school buildings to close again, families and society in general will need to pay special attention to the social needs of teenagers and younger children.

Larry Scott has a unique perspective on the topic. Scott is a school psychologist in the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda district, a member of the Buffalo Board of Education, and the father of a 10- and 6-year-old. Scott, in a phone conversation last week, said his views on school reopening have evolved. In the spring, he said, physical distancing for safety was his top concern.

"It's still is the priority now, but with the data and the science that we're seeing right now, I think we have to be open to some opportunity for in-school learning so that there can be some return to that socialization with peers and with adults directly."

Scott said watching his older son contend with the effects of social isolation in the spring informed his thinking.

"I saw him struggle greatly when we went into the lockdown in spring," Scott said. His family contacted some of his son's classmates to convene online study groups and let the kids interact online.

"And we found that he would be actually more upset after he had those interactions," Scott said. "Here was an attempt to try to remediate or replace what he was missing, and it just wasn't satisfying him."

His son's baseball team has since gotten back in action. Socializing with his teammates has led to a "dramatic improvement" in his son's sense of well-being, Scott said.

Andrew Solomon, a professor of medical clinical psychology at Columbia University Medical Center, wrote an op-ed column for the New York Times about the effects of the pandemic on mental health.

"Social isolation generates at least as much escalation of mental illness as does fear of the virus itself," Solomon wrote.

Interacting with their peers on social media does not adequately meet young people's needs to socialize. Even during quarantine periods, kids can experience FOMO -- fear of missing out -- though it may seem there is little happening to miss out on. But catching a glimpse on Instagram of other friends doing anything together -- even a Zoom call that excluded some friends -- can trigger anxiety or depression.

Clinical depression goes beyond having a bad day. Solomon describes it as the difference between a belief that things are not OK and the belief that nothing will ever be OK again.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says about half the people between 18 and 29 report feeling symptoms of anxiety or depression. And suicide is the second leading cause of death for people under 35.

School districts in New York were required to turn in their fall plans to the state by Friday. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has said he will announce this coming week whether schools in the state may reopen, with individual guidance by region.

An ability to safely return to school, at least part time, would be a boost for students' mental health. If that becomes impossible, parents and families, religious and social institutions, have to find ways for kids to have some social interaction.

Isolation has remedies, Solomon wrote in his essay. Zoom conversations "and FaceTime do not temper it adequately for many people, and it is to be determined on a case-by-case basis when the mental health benefits of seeing someone you love -- even outside and 6 feet away -- are greater than the physical health dangers of such encounters."

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