This is not just normal, it could actually be helpful – a degree of anxiety could drive behaviour such as social distancing and hand washing that will reduce the spread of the virus. Increased anxiety – about the virus and the death of those around them and their own death.Some normal reactions to this very abnormal situation include: It is completely normal, even healthy, for many children and young people to react to an ongoing stressful situation in all sorts of ways.

Normal reactions to a highly abnormal situation For many children and young people there will have been additional losses and stresses: they may have lost their normal daily structure, they may have lost contact with friends, they may have missed out on various important milestones in their lives, their carers may have financial difficulties, their families may be arguing more, they may be more exposed to domestic violence between the adults in their household, they may have experienced abuse with no-one outside of the household to turn to for protection.Access to social support from outside of the household will have been compromised during lockdown, and we know that lack of social support is a risk factor that makes events more likely to be traumatic.Children and young people who have not been directly bereaved, will have heard a lot of ‘death talk’ around them – either by friends and family or on news or social media.These deaths are likely to have been sudden and unexpected, and the children and young people may not have had the chance to say goodbye either beforehand or at a funeral. This means that many children and young people will have had family or friends die because of the virus. The number of deaths directly or indirectly caused by the virus in the UK has exceeded 50,000.Listed below are the indirect effects of the illness as well as measures taken in the UK to reduce its spread that can be considered as potentially traumatic: When we talk about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, we are not just talking about a deadly virus that spreads easily.

Trauma signs in toddlers