That is what Elnathan Prinsen, the chairman of the Dutch Association for Psychiatry, tells today in Fidelity.
He wrote a letter to the Outbreak Management team (OMT) and the cabinet about the problem. That letter is also supported by the Association of Hogescholen, Universities of the Netherlands and the student union LSVb.
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Primary schools and nurseries can open again since the beginning of this week, but universities, HBO and MBO courses will still remain closed. The cabinet will decide later this week when educational institutions can open their doors again.
Anxiety, sadness and stress
In the meantime, more and more students are struggling with fear, gloom, stress, powerlessness and loneliness, according to Prinsen. “Serious problems that lead to a mental disorder,” he told the newspaper.
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Trouw reports that many educational institutions indicate that the demand for student psychologists has increased in recent months. Anyone hoping for an intake interview sometimes has to wait up to a month. A subsequent referral to a mental health psychologist often means that young adults have to wait months before it is their turn.
‘Education is a fundamental right’
“Three-quarters of mental disorders develop before the age of 21,” says Prinsen. This is shown by scientific studies.
“The average age at which such a disorder starts is around 18, 19 years old, and that is exactly the stage in which students at MBO, HBO and university are at.” He therefore pleads for the cabinet to listen less to what he believes to be ‘unilateral’ OMT advice and to take the interests of young people into account.
“Education is a fundamental right,” he says. “But our education has been in a crisis for two years because of the lockdowns.”
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