A mental health professional has expressed concern that Barbados has become a “screen-oriented society” which is contributing to increased mood disorders among young people.Although not in a position to provide figures, mental health, addiction and trauma therapist Reneé Napoleon noted that over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in people between the ages of 16 and 30 years presenting with these issues, some of which she said stemmed from a lack of social interaction and not being able to cope with emotions.The operator of Empathic Interventions Counselling and Consultations Services told Barbados TODAY that in her practice, anxiety and depression have been “the two big [disorders] that we really have seen an increase from COVID up to now”.“We are not saying those issues were not there before, but it really highlighted the issues that some of our youngsters face in terms of not being able to cope with their emotions, not knowing where to seek help,” she noted.
