Welcome to the European Parliamentary Research Service Podcasts.

Fear, worries, insecurity.

Today we will be talking about the effects of the pandemic on people's mental health,

especially young people, and look at the recommendations and guidance

given by European and international organisations to deal with this silent pandemic.

Men's Sana Incorporé Sano wrote the Roman poet Juvenal. In modern English language, a healthy mind

in a healthy body. Few sayings ring as true as this one, especially in current times. But COVID-19 has put

citizens' mental health to the test. Yes, it has. No matter where we live, COVID-19 has turned

our lives upside down. It has altered daily routines, added financial pressures and led to social isolation.

People worried about losing their job, about plans being postponed, getting sick or infecting loved ones,

and rumours and misinformation have only added to the confusion, making many feel they are losing control.

Dr Natasha Asapardi Muscat leads the country health policies

and systems division at the World Health Organization's Europe office. Everybody has been terribly

affected not only because of the disease itself and the fear and anxiety caused by the disease,

but also because of the impact of the public health and social

measures, including lockdowns. And I think children and young people have been amongst

those groups that have been most adversely affected. As Natasha pointed out, the pandemic has

impacted different groups in different ways, and young people

have taken the biggest blow. Closed schools, job insecurity combined with prolonged lockdowns

at an age where everything exciting happens outside the home, have brought about anxiety,

sadness, loneliness and often depression. It's not only years of education that have been lost, but children and adolescents have also been

unable to participate in sports, in drama activities, to meet their friends, and they've

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