American scientists are adding another point to the long list of effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lockdown has hit the brains of teenagers. Social isolation has accelerated their aging by about four years. There is also good news – these changes are not irreversible.
Scientists have noticed that the brains of teenagers during social isolation were not stimulated enough by stimuli, and it is well known that an organ that is not used atrophies. Reduced production of neurotransmitters caused brain cells to start shrinking.
– We moved less, we had less social interactions, there were fewer stimulants for our brain, because our brain not only controls, but also receives feedback – says Professor Adam Kobayashi from the Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw.
If the brain does not receive them, or receives too little, it begins to shut down. Of course, very slowly.
The needs that the pandemic has taken away from us
– We as humans, as a social species, have three important needs to meet. No matter where we live, how old we are, what color our skin is, what we believe in or what language we speak: we want to have our needs for recognition, belonging and acceptance met. And the pandemic has taken that away from us – says Lucyna Kicińska, a narrative therapist from the Office for the Prevention of Suicidal Behavior.
Children and young people need recognition, belonging and peer acceptance during their growth period. With lockdowns, school closures and sports cancellations, they have lost such opportunities.
An aging brain means poorer abilities to absorb knowledge, poorer learning outcomes, communication problems. It means poorer analysis of movement, shape, and depth, weaker visual associations, and more difficult facial recognition. In total, the Americans observed changes in as many as 30 areas of the teenagers' brains that they studied. However, there is a note of optimism in these studies.
– The authors of the study note that these were not permanent changes either, but simply when someone is sick and lies down for a long time, not moving, their muscles atrophy – says Adam Kobayashi.
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So let's get to work. Let's get to work together. First of all, in the circle of those closest to us. Sometimes it really doesn't take much.
– What children and teenagers need from us is to notice them, to talk to them about the difficulties they have, and to choose solutions together with them when we see and understand what these difficulties are – notes Lucyna Kicińska.
– That is, all activities that develop the emotional sphere in these children, in these young people, the ability to cope with stress, the ability to express emotions in a safe way and the ability to build relationships with another person in a safe, appropriate way. This is the priority – emphasizes Dr. Aleksandra Lewandowska, national consultant in the field of child and adolescent psychiatry.
The data of scientists from Washington are confirmed, unfortunately, by epidemiological data. In Poland, over the last three years, the number of children and adolescents who required psychiatric and psychological care has doubled.
Main image source: TVN24