Both the corona crisis and the Ukraine war are causing many people great concern. During the pandemic, these often led to depression. The Ethics Council warns that the younger generation in particular is at risk of being forgotten.
The German Ethics Council calls for a much greater focus on the needs of young people in social crises as a lesson learned from the heavy burdens of the corona pandemic. Chairwoman Alena Buyx said in Berlin that there should be a rule: “How do we protect the younger generations and how can we ensure that we don’t burden them too much.” In view of the “stacking” crises with the Ukraine war, inflation and climate change, this does not only affect health policy.
Buyx explained that younger generations have become minorities in society. This leads to the risk that it will fall behind in crisis management. “This must not happen.” Specifically, this could also affect projects of the Ministry of Economics or the Environment, for example. With a view to the solidarity of young people in the Corona crisis, Buyx said: “As a society, we not only owe children, young people and young adults gratitude and respect, but concrete action.”
In its recommendation, the Ethics Council, as an advisory body, calls for, among other things, a nationwide expansion of psychological and other support services. Buyx again pointed out that the stresses young people had been exposed to had not been adequately appreciated – by the pandemic as an existential experience of a long-drawn-out, threatening crisis in itself, but also by containment measures. Younger people, who found themselves in dire straits as a result, would not have reliably received the necessary attention and support.
The corona pandemic alone had a major impact on the psyche of many people of all ages. Between December 2020 and June 2021, the Institute for Prevention and Occupational Medicine of the DGUV surveyed more than 1,500 employees from the public sector, the financial sector, retail, local public transport and industry on the subject.
According to the study, six percent of those surveyed said they had suffered from severe symptoms of depression or anxiety during the first wave of the corona pandemic. As many as 16 percent said they had significant symptoms. According to the study, both proportions almost doubled in the second and third corona waves.