On a warm early morning this June, I found myself talking to a school staff member about a young adolescent girl. Recently, there were concerns about her. Her parents had called the school to let them know the young woman had been withdrawn and moody for about a week. She appeared more stressed than usual, and had complained of stomach pains. Were these symptoms anxiety related? The school staff member had checked in with the girl, who indeed appeared fairly withdrawn. She then called me to consider what the next steps could be.
Before I had a chance to ask some first questions –what had been going on with this young woman recently? were there any exams coming up? was her friendship group stable? – the school staff member interrupted me. With urgency in her voice, she told me: ‘we worry this could be mental health. It could be anxiety. We’ve had a lot of this during Covid’.