13% of students in Japan prone to depression due to pandemic: study

Shogun36 @ 11'16am

Absolutely spot on.

Draconian COVID measures caused far more harm than good, all for a virus that's a flu or bad cold for most people.

Depressed teens is just the tip of the iceberg.

@falseflagsteve

It appears that everyone in this comment section, including myself, agree with you. That said, what is also unscientific is the survey cited in the article.

The measures that effected these kiddies was unscientific and immoral. Ruining countless lives when the risk to healthy hidden was almost zero. What a crying shame that some still defend the indefensible

@Kaowaiinekochanknaw

Again, coercion to wear a mask has not seemed conclusive among the 1500 students in the high school where I teach where half the students don't wear masks and 1/3 of the teachers don't wear them. The school's policy is "masks are optional". Where is the coercion? From fear ginned up in the media? Perhaps, from classmates, for some perhaps. For most, or at the least...many, there is none, as is evidenced from the fact that so many don't wear masks.

Your beliefs may stand, but they prove nothing.

Just as this survey...

To clarify, I mean't no child that wasn't coerced or peer pressured. English omissions are part of the language as you may know when dealing with generalisma.

All mask use "re Covid" came from authority to children and youths - from the Government. Through the media and downwards. Through parents teachers and peers. None of this was thought up by the kids. Zero. Zilch.

To imagine they chose to do this of their own accord is disingenuous. To gaslight that they continue to do so voluntary (especially primary school aged childten and kids in daycares) is also disingenuous.

My own city tried to persuade and press all of the local daycares and kindergartens in the area that all kids over they age of 2 should be required to wear a mask. This was last year.

I was at the PTA for that particular school and said my child won't be wearing one as there is no scientific evidence for it.

We called the city hall and asked for the scientific evidence for their decision.

They couldn't produce any of course.

They then had to re email all of the schools in the city and say it was just a recommendation and up to the parents.

The school and parents were quite happy about this as took some pressure of having to monitor the kids deal with kids hating wearing them and so on.

This was just one example of peer pressure to get around the reality of it being illegal and actually not mandated.

My previous beliefs stand.

I found a list of 7 questions from the cited survey.

Here they are:

Do you feel uncomfortable when thinking of COVID? (42% answered yes)

Do you have difficulty concentrating? (32% answered yes)

Do you get irritated easily? (37% answered yes)

Do you feel alone? (16% answered yes)

Do you have trouble sleeping or do you ever wake up at night? (24% answered yes)

Do you have unpleasant dreams? (22% answered yes)

Have you ever harmed yourself or someone in your family (20% answered yes)

Clearly, anyone with a modicum of critical thinking capacity can see the issue with these questions. 32% of kids said they have difficulty concentrating? 32%?!! Really? I recently watched a TED Talks upload in which a study mapping the concentration levels of Harvard students was cited. Its findings were that on average Harvard students can focus their attention for 12 minutes.

Do you feel uncomfortable thinking about Covid? Yes?... You're suffering from depression.

Let's just concede that their findings are inconclusive and their methodology is not exact science.

"No child volunteers to wear a mask"

This is demonstrably false. I work at a high school of 1500 students, half of which still wear a mask. If it were peer pressure, then why wouldn't students take their cues from those who don't wear masks. If it were coercion it would be from teachers, 1/3 of whom don't wear masks, and it would not be in line with school policy which is "masks are optional". If parents were the ones who coerced students, those masks would voluntarily be off the moment they hit public transit or at the least the school's grounds. Your "NO" child claim falls flat on its face the second you apply it to the real world.

Without peer pressure or coersion.

No child volunteers to wear a mask.

@Kaowaiinekochanknaw

"When it comes to forced isolation and masking of children. I would be suprised is there wasn't a significant effect:on depression shown in any survey. Seems blatantly obvious to me."

The survey was conducted late April of this year. Schools throughout Japan have been in full operation since 2020. There has been no "forced isolation" to speak of. In terms of mask regulations, they too have been eased, yet most children continue to voluntarily wear one. So, these two reasons in particular don't seem so "blatantly obvious" to anyone who thinks critically.

@Geeter

Sure. Surveys and studies can be flawed. There have been many of late.

When it comes to forced isolation and masking of children. I would be suprised is there wasn't a significant effect:on depression shown in any survey. Seems blatantly obvious to me.

This survey is possibly on the downside of reality as the kids may have been reluctant to answer truthfully about the true pain they endured.

A child will often mask their feelings and those regressions boil up later.

I think what has happened to children worldwide, we won't just see in depression of the Self coming out in future years but in increasing violence against others.

When they fully realize who their abusers were. I fortell alot of anti-authority focus and lashingbout at parents.

Hopefully like many abuse victims, they don't tend to do the same to the next generation. Many repressed abuse victims repeat their abuse as didn't properly process tbeir situations, usually as too young or gaslit into believing it was their fault.

@Kaowaiinekochanknaw

Experts agree that surveys are often faulty or compromised due to things such as poor methodology or bias. This includes questions formed to intentionally elicit answers that support a given position. "The center plans to continue its study on the effect of the pandemic on children's health"...is and admission that the findings are inconclusive. Critical thinking requires questioning whether or not there exists bias or a conflict of interest, etc. For example, does The National Center for Child Health and Development receive funding to "continue" its study? If so, one has to concede the possibility that their survey could be compromised. I'm not making the claim that it is, only that it could be. I'd like to see the survey's questions to rule out such things as acquiescence bias...or questions designed to elicit a given answer.

Stormcrow

it’s low because kids with depression don’t answer surveys.

eating meals without conversing

Are they kidding again, the mimosas? That’s been normal behavior for generations and was even brutally taught as one and only good manners. As kids and in youth age we mostly or all caught lot more than one slap into faces when talking during meals , moving or playing around while sitting in the chairs, leaving the table too early, or walking or running in the room instead etc.

Love how many on here, no longer 'listen to the experts', when they don't like the results of the study and it's findings.

13% sounds too low. It’s got to be higher.

13% of students in Japan prone to depression due to

the dumb center test

stress from their parents to being "number 1"

monster parents

lack of mixing core classes based on skill, not by homeroom

endless mind numbing club activities that NO ONE benefits from

lack of freedom to express themselves, be it through fashion, art, creative thinking or otherwise

teachers that have no business being teachers

ignorant and out of date BOE and higher ups running things

bully mentality, which wouldn't be so prominent if they get rid of the homeroom centric division and not allowing students to be shuffled in different classes in different rooms with different teachers

having to appear in school long before and after normal hours, including weekends and holidays

not being allowed to work part time jobs......

take your pick really, as for the pandemic........maybe. But that should all be in the past now. You can't keep blaming that thing forever.

Thirteen percent of elementary to high school students in Japan had depressive tendencies warranting medical attention last October due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic

Wrong. Due to the effects of hysterical, anti-science politicians and medical community.

Every single "protective measure" was a predictable failure.

We sacrificed our children to supposedly protect the very old and very sick, and those responsible belong in prison.

Depression among young people tends to set in when the reality of knowing that their dream is unachievable sets in. There's not much to inspire emotional satisfaction when one is looking at a future of grinding it out in either a tedious, white-collar, McJob or in laborious grunt work. Also, the specter that 50% of current jobs will have been made obsolete by AI or mass-automation is worrisome. That only 13% are depressed is remarkable.

@Smithinjapan

You question the results of the study done by the National Center for Child Health and Development?

They are experts in their fields.

You don't believe the forced isolation and forced masking abuse had any effect?

Would love to see your research.

So, this is the new go-to excuse for hikkokomori and depression? Last I heard both existed LONG before Covid. And I can just see a so-called doctor visit under such circumstances:

Mother: What's the matter, doctor?

Doctor: (sighing) I've seen this before. You're child is suffering from...

Mother: (tense) What, doctor??

Doctor: Stress. I've heard of this in some teenagers since Covid began. Your son's premature gray hair, the extra long pinky fingernail, the inability to socialize except online.

Mother: I see. What can we do?

Doctor: I recommend he stay confined at home for the time being to avoid the stresses of being in the outside world. The stress will subside gradually if he is allowed to engage in things he enjoys, which are...?

Boy: (sheepishly) Minecraft, Apex, Toram, Mario Kart --

Doctor: Whoa whoa! Slow down, young child! (to mother) You see? He's getting better already! I'll also give you this sack of medicine, which also contains lorazepam for your stress. You are free to leave him alone without any threat of self-harm, rest assured. Now, go have lunch with your friends at the Ritz Carleton, stress-free!

I am stunned.

I can't really believe that forcing kids to wear a masks, be petrified of nothing. Take the full burdenvof guikt for wanting to play, not being able to talk at lunch time. See their friends faces for years amd being told to shut their mouths and don't touch each other - for years, has had any detrimental effects. Just wait until they become teenagers. A great wave of rage is coming.

I assume we won't be abke to say it's safe here anymore with a straight face.

You reap what you sow, and what was sewn was disingenuous, dangerous and frankly sickening.

Did you know that school surveys almost always require the child or parent's full name? Do you know how many of these surveys are botched because people still don't want to say the wrong thing when their name is attached to it?

It's easy to blame the pandemic, but is it the ONLY reason students are depressed?

Certain areas have truancy rates of 20% across entire cities. Students are severely overworked, bullying has no consequences, and parental support is declining at an insane pace. There are far more issues than the pandemic contributing to depression in students. It's far higher than the 13% said to be due to it. It's just an easy, accepted excuse.

dagon

Do you have any evidence for your theory?

Scroll up, I posted a link about the stress on working families by the LDP coronavirus response.

Any evidence for yours?

It was certainly right to take strict measures before the vaccine. This saved several hundred thousand life not to say a couple millions of lifes. But after that it was obvious that the side effects of these measures outweighed their cost. Japan did very well at the beginning of the pandemic but then failed to adapt to the new situation as shown by the meaningless masks wearing for so long which as several mentioned has some big negative psychological impact on little kids

The depression in school students started long before the Covid pandemic.

for sure. LONG before.

COVID may have something to do with it but I believe it's more than that.

It's the pressure society places on these young souls to conform and be perfect.

exactly.

Depression manifests itself in many ways. Take the Hikkikomori for example. People who choose not to interact with anyone, including their families, and just live apart from society. They predate the pandemic.

Society's ills didn't start with the pandemic.

Mark

The article header says due to the pandemic

COVID may have something to do with it but I believe it's more than that.

It's the pressure society places on these young souls to conform and be perfect.

dagon

Do you have any evidence for your theory?

Still blaming pandemic?

Behavioral restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus, such as wearing masks and eating meals without conversing, are believed to have been among the factors affecting children's mental well-being, the National Center for Child Health and Development said.

Or, if the NCCHD had perhaps delved deeper, the LDP coronavirus response that generously bailed out business and property holders while leaving workers and families to be preached to to practice "self-reliance"?

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g01025/

This supposed finding generously absolves the government response of responsibility and plays into the whole "anti-masking/coronavirus hoax" crowd.

Any excuse! Most students tell me they hate to study!

The depression in school students started long before the Covid pandemic.

As I correctly predicted at the time. Those kids needed to be at school and with their mates. It wasn’t Spanish Flu where most were the young, most were elderly, obese or those already sick

Its upsetting this and was obviously going to happen.