The pandemic has worsened the child mental health crisis. How parents are handling it all.

Before the pandemic began to spread like wildfire around the world, Anne Gomez Rubin says her son was an easy-going kid with “lots of sunshine in his spirit.” But once shutdowns and quarantines began to replace old routines, Gomez Rubin says she began to notice more anxiety and worry than ever before in her 9-year-old. It’s a common story for many parents all around the nation. Go to any online parenting Facebook group, or read the tweets of any mom, dad or guardian and you’ll no doubt find stories about youngsters acting out due to loneliness, anxiety and depression. But it’s more than just anecdotal evidence.

A study published in the journal Psychiatry Research confirms there has been a strong negative mental health impact on our youth due to COVID-19 and pandemic lockdowns. The study reviewed numerous articles and found the effects were even greater depending on variables such as pre-existing mental health conditions and being economically underprivileged. Additionally, in recent months the CDC has noted a surge in mental health-related emergency department visits among children throughout the pandemic, further suggesting a mental health crisis among our nation’s youth.