The Impact of the Pandemic on Student Mental Wellbeing

The pandemic has had a huge impact on our mental wellbeing across the nation. Mental ill-health doesn’t discriminate on age however; in fact, many children and young adults have reported that the pandemic made their wellbeing worsen.

The disruption to routine and an uncertain future has left many young people feeling overwhelmed, lost, fearful and anxious.

According to the BMJ, some studies have seen the mental health of children and young adults deteriorate during the pandemic, with many parents also citing an increase in behavioral issues.

Young Minds has continued to gather research on the effects of the pandemic and lockdown on young people throughout the past year. The most recent survey showed that 75% of respondents found the third lockdown hardest to cope with and 67% believed that the pandemic will have a long-term negative effect on their mental health. There was evidence of deep anxiety, lost motivation and panic attacks amongst those surveyed.

Looking at the overwhelming evidence, it’s clear that, although some children and young people did feel happier at home, many suffered a hit to their mental wellbeing.

With charities such as the Mental Health Foundation stating the necessity of mental health support and aid early on, in order to succeed to life, schools and colleges are under the microscope to pull in more resource to support their students.

So, What Funding is Available?

The Mental Health Recovery Plan, announced alongside the Spring Budget 2021, aims to provide £500 million to expand mental health services across the UK. A larger proportion of this budget (£79 million) will go towards schools for the provision of Mental Health Support Teams, community support, eating disorder services and crisis and intensive home treatment.

It’s a positive step towards supporting schools to help transition children back into the classroom, and continue to support them during and following the pandemic.

What Other Resources Are There For Schools?

There are plenty of free online tools and resources for teachers and school staff to enhance their current wellbeing programs or start a new one.

Charities and support sites such as; Young Minds, Twinkl, Mental Health Foundation & Mentally Healthy Schools all contain fantastic free support for teachers, parents and students.

Shout is another great tool for anyone of any age to use. It is a free text, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone struggling to cope and the first service from Mental Health Innovations.

It’s clear that children need support from their parents, teachers and peers to ensure they are not disadvantaged as we move out of the pandemic and back to normality.

With the disruption we’ve all had over the past year, here at Paper Plus, we want to continue to support our schools in these uncertain times. In delivering what our customers need, when they need it, we can help schools to focus on transitioning their pupils back into the classroom.