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China's COVID curbs hit youth mental health

24 Comments
By Farah Master and Xiaoyu Yin

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© Thomson Reuters 2022.

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24 Comments
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The lockdowns had meant she was mostly confined to her room and unable to meet up with friends. 

As was the case with every other college student in the world who chose to live on campus.

Another chance to poke at China.

-20 ( +1 / -21 )

Well DuH!

all these mask up, vaccinate everyone “people” think this is great and want to go on tormenting people for ever with this bunk!

Covid is no longer (if it ever was) worthy of shutting down the world and traumatising a generation of children!

6 ( +11 / -5 )

Really?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

For all those championing lockdowns and social boot-licking, this is a snapshot of the world it creates. It's also on our own shores too...

1 ( +7 / -6 )

low pandemic death toll of around 5,200 to date

That speaks a clear language, that the strict measures are kind of successful, doesn’t it? Even if you don’t trust those numbers and double or triple them up, and additionally add a few thousands of those mind sick or depressive unstable suiciders, who couldn’t exist a few days or hours alone and with lower time amounts of communication with friends or other people , then you still end up with a very low death toll in comparison to most other countries, considering the very high population.

-13 ( +0 / -13 )

low pandemic death toll of around 5,200 to date

That obviously speaks a clear language, that the strict measures are a full undoubted success. Even if you not at all trust the number and double or triple them and add a few thousands of those psychos who committed suicide because of depression or because they couldn’t exist a few hours or days alone and with limited communication or meetings with others, even then you end up with a very low number compared to most other countries considering the very high population there.

-13 ( +0 / -13 )

Mentally fragile spoilt kids yet want to rule the world.

If lockdowns can cause this then wait till they see an actual war.

-12 ( +1 / -13 )

"Conspiracy theorists" have been highlighting this sort of mental-health toll occurring around the world due to draconian COVID policies for over two years now.

Suicide rates globally have seen little deviation over the past 4 years, during the entire pandemic.

1 ( +7 / -6 )

Suicide rates globally have seen little deviation over the past 4 years, during the entire pandemic.

But rates of domestic violence and depression have skyrocketed world-wide. Mental health is more than just killing yourself.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

But rates of domestic violence and depression have skyrocketed world-wide. Mental health is more than just killing yourself.

Skyrocketed? How much?

Ok then. Feelings of employee satisfaction from teleworking and seeing more of their family have skyrocketed world-wide.

2 ( +6 / -4 )

Not sure about youth's mental health but it's definitely affecting children's wellbeing.

Kids growing up without ever enjoying summer events or seeing fireworks.

Little ones totally shocked by the sight of a foreigner at the local market.

Wife's Kyushu grandmother just passed yesterday and our son never had the chance to actually meet her.

It also contributes to my weekend anxiety as I cant just take my family to a random water park, splash pad, science museum or go explore a small amusement park on our way home, as there are 50-50 chances there will be some sort of registration in advance, even the simplest weekends you have to plan weeks in advance. Sight.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

ElevenToday  02:31 pm JST

A little to simplified my friend. 

I'm listening,

Exacerbating that academic pressure are dismal job prospects. While overall unemployment stands at 5.4%, the rate for urban youth has soared to 19.9%, the highest level on record, as corporate hiring withers due to the pandemic and regulatory crackdowns on the tech and tutoring sectors.

19.9%! Gee! That's a big number. But other countries in the West also see these kind of numbers, and they fluctuate don't they, like if we look back recently to another time during the recent Covid crisis, like May 2021 we see that the youth unemployment rate in the United Kingdom rate of 35.5 percent in May 2021

https://www.statista.com/statistics/280305/youth-unemployment-rate-uk/

35%!!!

And the UK is in a recession now.

China continues to have positive economic growth.

They'll be fine.

-11 ( +0 / -11 )

@11

Nah, not that kind of person and dont project anything on other people, just a bit troublesome having to check everything in advance for the smallest things, can't count the number of times we checked somewhere on our way and it was either closed or needed prebooking, just off the top of my head:

Arakawa Amusement Park - registered some 7 weeks in advance (earliest slot available) and didn't go, now its gone for another few weeks

Ibaraki Nature Museum - pre booking needed, was lucky to insist on going there (it was on our way home anyway) and the lady let us in after checking for cancellations

Saitama's Shirakobato Water Park - found by 2pm on our way home but couldnt get in (booking needed - at least 1 day in advance)  

Katsushika's Micca kids library - no weekend slots availabe for the next few weeks

These are no international flights, just little day trips with kids within Tokyo area. But I'm optimistic about 2023.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Back on topic please. This story is about China.

This story is ONLY about China ….

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

Evidence are showing that the lockdowns are causing more harm than good. Excess deaths worldwide since they were implemented (over all ages). The worst culprits like China and New Zealand will have decades of problems caused by the tyrannical lockdowns they imposed.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Well, at least they don’t have Covid, probably.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

The current CCP enforced lock downs in China are what is helping to exacerbate the issue for people in China. Most of the world has finished it's heavy lockdown requirements once vaccinations and a means to effectively fight the disease with medical knowledge took hold. The CCP is making it worse for their own as they want a ZERO COVID policy. Other nations have concluded that once the virus evolved into a less dangerous version, that it is here to stay since many missed the chance to help wipe it out in the beginning stages.

It is darkly humorous that the Chinese Communist Party claims to be a "party of the people" yet put the political power of their unelected "party" far above the well-being of their people and the country itself. And the PLA should be renamed to it's proper title of People's Suppression Army. I can't remember the last time the PLA actually liberated people from oppression....

The CCP should have figured out by now they're fighting another battle they can't win with their current strategy.

I can definitely attest that the pandemic caused a lot of extreme mental duress for everyone. The lockdowns and restrictions were necessary during the beginning when there was no means to fight the disease at all, and it had a high fatality rate. Parents lost children, children lost parents, and many lost loved ones. I don't have a single person I know who hasn't lost someone in their family to COVID.

I also had a breakdown myself at work last year due to how much of a toll everything was taking on everyone and daily survival of all the extra stress the pandemic brought. Being in healthcare helped give me a more exposed look at how the pandemic was affecting others as well, and the rush to vaccinate people against COVID with some out right refusing to get protection and ending up contributing to the strain on the healthcare system. Add that to the many personal issues I was having due to the pandemic (relationship and financial) . Then a relative of mine attempted suicide that same week, I received the call while at work, and just SHUT DOWN. It gets to the point where you become hopeless. Thankfully I was given the rest of the week off to recover mentally and emotionally from the toll.

The CCP is doing that to their own citizens. They have become hopeless because the CCP wants to control their every move even if it is not beneficial to the well-being of their people and their country. Since the CCP does not believe in human freedom, they continue to push their draconian ideals without paying attention to what it will actually cost them. Because the CCP is always right, never makes mistakes, and the people are there to serve the party... not the party to serve the people.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Every student at all levels was impacted by COVID around the world. Depression among 12-20 yrs olds due to being disconnected from their peer groups is the issue, regardless of where in the world they may live.

However, with China's zero COVID policy and mandated lockdowns, typically in tiny rooms/apartments, the depression has been worse and longer. Here, we still had kids playing outside in the neighborhood, even during the highest levels of COVID. We were encouraged to get the family out to exercise in nature for mental well-being. There's something good for a human soul about a simple walk in the forest. Hard to explain, but there are studies showing how it improved mood.

Nobody likes to be locked down. Putting 40M people at a time into lockdown like China did/does, is just crazy. They've been blaming everything for spreading COVID. Boxes, papers, food, pets, and people, but it is mostly CCP propaganda, since they have the zero-covid policy, disrupting lives and killing pets.

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/environment/article/3155845/coronavirus-china-killing-pets-covid-19-patients

5 ( +5 / -0 )

"China's lockdowns have had a huge human cost with the shadow of mental-ill health adversely affecting China’s culture and economy for years to come," argues a June editorial in the British medical journal the Lancet.

Is there a country that is not having a huge human and economic cost because of the Covid crisis?

ElevenAug. 30  04:45 pm JST

China continues to have positive economic growth.

No it doesn't. Did you not read this article? 

Yes it does, and yes I did. No mention of non-positive growth.

But my comment about the 35% youth unemployment rate in the UK sure put a damper on your attack!

So, every country in the world is seeing some adverse effects from the Covid crisis, and this article only focuses in one of them.

-6 ( +0 / -6 )

Lockdowns were never considered free of costs, but they were never thought as a permanent way to deal with outbreaks, they were just the much lesser of two evils at a time where variants were much more easily controlled by isolation and there were no vaccines or specific treatments against covid.

China is stuck in that past, which is why no international expert recommends their policy right now. The costs for the population (in the loss of human rights, access to health care services, jobs and security) are still unacceptably high and the benefits keep getting smaller and smaller when compared with countries that are actually following the advice of experts and reducing the deaths and disability caused by covid without having to impose heavy burdens.

One thing is to inflict damage to the public mental health when the option is even worse, another completely different is to do it just because it is a more effective way to control the population as the CCP is doing.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

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