…
Mental health: According to new studies, teenagers’ brains in the US changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, causing them to age faster than average.
The young study participants also reported having more severe symptoms of anxiety, depression and internalized problems.
Internalized problems include feelings of sadness, low self-esteem, anxiety, and difficulty regulating emotions.
The symptoms all came after the first year of the pandemic.
Factors
Recent studies have revealed that adolescent mental health has suffered during the pandemic due to multiple factors.
Many have been pulled out of school, separated from trusted friends and support structures, and forced to live with the uncertainty and fear accompanying the Coronavirus.
Their parents have lost their jobs, in addition to the millions of children who have lost parents and loved ones to Covid-19.
The study
The study, titled Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, is among the first to examine physical changes in the brain caused by stress and anxiety.
The newspaper was also published last Thursday.
The research comes from a more extensive study in which scientists tried to understand gender differences in adolescent depression.
Eight years ago, scientists launched a plan to perform biennial MRI scans on 220 children aged 9 to 13.
The team conducted two rounds of analysis before the pandemic disrupted their research.
As a result, they had to wait until the end of 2020 to resume scans.
Read also: Another Terri Zinzer break-in in Portland raises the question of the city’s mental health help
The brain
At that point, the scientists found that the children who experienced the 2020 pandemic had brain ages older than their chronological age.
The brain had growths in the amygdala and hippocampus.
The amygdala is the area that regulates anxiety and stress, while the hippocampus is the area that controls access to memories.
Meanwhile, the tissue thinned in the cortex, the part of the brain that controls executive function.
While a child’s brain naturally changes over time, research has found that physical changes can happen more quickly if they experience significant adversity.
Other studies show that people who experience abuse, neglect, poverty and family problems early in life have their brains age faster.
They are also prone to later mental health problems.
Findings
Ian Gotlib is the study’s lead author and a professor of psychology at Stanford University.
He said the research team expected to find something behind anxiety, depression and internalized problems.
However, they were unsure what they would find with the MRI scans.
“The pandemic has not been kind to adolescent mental health,” said Gotlib.
“It’s always interesting to do research like this when you’re not really sure what’s going to happen.”
“These effects were interesting and happened pretty quickly.”
“This wasn’t just a one-year shutdown,” Gotlib added.
“So we didn’t know that the effects on the brain would be this pronounced after that short a period of stress.”
“It tracks with the mental health difficulties that we’re seeing.”
According to Ian Gotlib, it is unclear whether brain changes will have an impact with age.
Future plans
Ian Gotlib and the team plan to look at the ten children in the study who had Covid-19 and see if there is a different effect.
According to Gotlib, the physical difference seems to be more pronounced in children with Covid.
Dr. Max Wiznitzer, diversion chief of pediatric neurology at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital, agreed that the brain changes were fascinating.
More important, however, is whether the mental health issues persist.
“The anatomy is not important,” said Wiznitzer, who was uninvolved with the research.
“It’s the functionality that’s important.”
“The clinical consequence here is the functional impact, the mental health condition clinically and how it’s functioning and how you deal with it.”
Dr. Max Wiznitzer pointed out that with the right mental health interventions, people can manage anxiety or depression.
“The brain has that capacity for reorganization – or call it improvement, if you will,” said Wiznitzer.
Read also: Rising UFC Fighter Plays Important Role in Breaking the Stigma Surrounding Men’s Mental Health
Other notes
Ian Gotlib hopes parents and guardians will remember that the mental health consequences can linger even after lockdowns and school closures ended.
“Be sure that your adolescent or your teen is getting any help that he or she, that they, might need if they’re experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety or being withdrawn.”
Reference:
