# Depressive and anxiety disorders in Polish children across the COVID-19 pandemic: a nationwide registry-based time-trend analysis

## TL;DR

This study shows how the COVID-19 pandemic increased mental health issues in Polish children, leading to higher medication use and longer sick leaves.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the long-term mental health effects of the pandemic on Polish youth through a nationwide time-trend analysis.

## Key findings

- Antidepressant and antipsychotic prescriptions remained high post-pandemic, unlike short-acting anxiolytics.
- Sick-leave days and psychiatric treatment rates increased significantly during and after the pandemic.
- Escitalopram and quetiapine prescriptions showed strong upward trends during the pandemic.

## Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted the mental health landscape for children and adolescents in Poland. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of psychotropic medication use, sick-leave days, and psychiatric treatment rates among Polish youth from 2018 to 2024, encompassing pre-pandemic, pandemic, and post-pandemic periods.

In the study we used national-level datasets. Data on Rx (recipe) purchases were obtained from IQVIA Pharmascope database for medication consumption by patients in community pharmacies. We have further examined the combined annual number of sick-leave days for 2020–2024. This data was obtained directly from the Social Insurance Institution of Poland. Lastly, we considered the dataset consisting of annual counts of children, who received at least one intervention in psychiatric care during the examined period.

We observed a sharp increase in antidepressant, anxiolytic, and antipsychotic prescriptions during the pandemic peak in 2021, followed by divergent post-pandemic trends—short-acting anxiolytics declined, while antidepressants and antipsychotics remained elevated. Only sertraline shows no clear peak, but rather a steady increase over the analyzed period. Concurrently, sick-leave days due to mental health diagnoses and the number of treated patients rose significantly, indicating sustained psychological distress beyond the acute crisis. Statistical analysis revealed strong upward trends for specific medications, such as escitalopram and quetiapine, and highlighted the pandemic’s distorting effect on prescribing patterns.

These findings underscore the long-term impact of COVID-19 on youth mental health and emphasize the need for enhanced early intervention, expanded access to psychiatric care, and robust public health strategies tailored to children and adolescents.