Hidden scars: how violence harms the mental health of children (Thai translation)
Access the original publication by the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence Against Children here.
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in various unprecedented crises including threats to people’s mental health. The significant impact of the pandemic on people’s mental health has led related studies to recommend that this issue should be treated as an international public health priority.[1] The World Health Organization defines health as a “complete state of physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” This all-encompassing definition tells us that mental health is an integral part of one’s health and that it is beyond mental disorders or disabilities.[2]
Although children and adolescents generally tend to have milder symptoms than adults,[3] COVID-19 has been taking a devastating toll on children’s mental health and psychosocial well-being, particularly on the most vulnerable. The pandemic response such as the school closures[4] and disruption of key protection and health services have affected children’s mental health and wellbeing.[5]
The #CovidUnder19 survey on children’s views and experiences during the pandemic shows that younger children (8-13 year-olds) and children living at home tended to report more positive feelings of the initial lockdown experience while older children experienced the loss of hope and helplessness and low self-esteem. [6] Children from Africa and the Asia-Pacific region are most affected[7] by the negative economic impacts of the pandemic. Many of these children shared that their families’ economic hardships and their observed economic difficulties of the other members of their society caused them anxiety. This shows how COVID-19 has distinct impacts on children in different countries, across ages, gender, ability, and situations of vulnerability.
Children’s mental health and psychosocial well-being are influenced by several determinants. Social, psychological, and biological factors determine the state of their mental health at a given point in time. This includes the risks to the mental health of children exposed to violence.[8] The 2020 report of the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children (UN SRSG-VAC), Hidden scars: how violence harms the mental health of children, presents that the global prevalence of violence against children is estimated to be up to 1 Billion. The report shows the impact of different settings and various forms of violence on the mental health of children. It also stresses the intergenerational aspects of the relationship between violence and mental health, and how the impact of the former on children can be passed from one generation to the next, particularly for children who are exposed to child sexual abuse.[9] Such exposure can cause both “immediate and long-term physiological and psychological damages to children.”[10]
In October 2021, the Department of Mental Health (DMH) and UNICEF in Thailand expressed concerns over the continued negative impact of COVID-19 on children and young people’s mental health, as significant numbers of adolescents face stress, anxiety, and depression. A mental health assessment among 183,974 adolescents in Thailand from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2021 revealed that 28% of adolescents experienced high levels of stress while 32% are at risk of depression and 22% are at risk of committing suicide. A survey conducted in Thailand by UNICEF and its partners in April 2020 found that 7 in 10 children and young people reported that the pandemic was affecting their mental health, causing stress, worry, and anxiety.[11]
In 2020, Childline Thailand Foundation (CTF), a member organization of CRC Asia, reported that mental health issues are a leading concern for 41,493 children who sought their services through Helpline 1387.
In response to the alarming situation of children’s mental health in Thailand, CRC Asia, together with its member organizations in Thailand, CTF and The Life Skills Development Foundation (TLSDF), seeks to raise public awareness of the linkages of violence on the mental health of children through the translation of the UN Special Representative of Secretary-General on Violence against Children’s Hidden Scars publication into the local language. This effort also aims to support the development of the capacity of different stakeholders in Thailand such as civil society organizations, public and private health institutions and practitioners, government bodies in Thailand, academic organizations, and the general public, in addressing issues of children’s mental health and violence against children.
References:
[1] Xiong J, Lipsitz O, Nasri F, Lui LMW, Gill H, Phan L, Chen-Li D, Iacobucci M, Ho R, Majeed A, McIntyre RS. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2020 Dec 1;277:55-64. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.08.001. Epub 2020 Aug 8. PMID: 32799105; PMCID: PMC7413844.
[2] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response
[3] https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice
[4] “188 countries imposed countrywide school closures during the pandemic, affecting more than 1.6 billion children and youth. See https://data.unicef.org/covid-19-and-children/
[5] https://www.unicef.org/coronavirus/COVID-19-pandemic-scarred-world-children
[6] PowerPoint Presentation by Kristen Hope “#CovidUnder19: A rights-based lens for investing in children’s mental health in building back better” at the Twenty second meeting of the European Commission Informal expert group on the rights of the child on June 8, 2021.
[7] See full report, technical annex, and demographics here: https://www.tdh.ch/en/media-library/documents/covidunder19-results
[8] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response and https://violenceagainstchildren.un.org/sites/violenceagainstchildren.un.org/files/documents/publications/final_hidden_scars_lhow_violence_harms_the_mental_health_of_children.pdf
[9] UN SRSG-VAC (2020). Hidden scars: how violence harms the mental health of children. https://violenceagainstchildren.un.org/news/hidden-scars-how-violence-harms-mental-health-children
[10] UN SRSG-VAC Hidden scars, p.9
