Permanent depressed mood and a sense of fear among children and adolescents is an increasingly common problem in Poland. According to the results of a 2018 study by the Empowering Children Foundation, one in six teenagers injured themselves at least once in their life, 7 percent of the respondents tried to commit suicide. The coronavirus pandemic may contribute to the deepening of the crisis. Psychotherapist and addiction specialist Magdalena Waszczyńska-Warda explains that children need the support of their family and peers very much. Left alone, they often cannot cope with the problems surrounding them.

“Unfortunately, the problem of suicides among adolescents and younger children is increasing. The research of the Empowering Children Foundation shows that Poland is in the second place in Europe in terms of the number of suicides and suicide attempts by young people,” Magdalena Waszczyńska-Warda, psychotherapist for children and adolescents, specialist in addiction therapy at the Medical Institute KAAR-MED, said.

The report of the Police Headquarters shows that only in 2019, 94 people committed suicide in the age range from 13-19, and as many as 360 people in the age range from 19-24. The data are comparable from year to year, which means that the problem is not diminishing.

The period of the pandemic, which was and is an extremely difficult time for children, may contribute to its growth. Being locked in homes could have contributed to the deterioration of the mental state and decreased mood.

“There are no studies to show whether the problem has worsened during the pandemic. It will be possible to find out when the pandemic will be over. Today, however, we assume that it happened because children locked up in the home did not have access to social relationships. If the bond with parents was already disturbed, when the child had to be with them all the time and could not talk to their peers, it became even more withdrawn,” the psychotherapist explained.

(Newseria)