Doctors in the Netherlands are concerned about the increasing number of teenagers who are absent from school as a result of stress, NOS reports. 

Stress causing an increasing number of Dutch teens to miss school

The rising cases of burnout and stress after the coronavirus pandemic are not only occurring among workers in the Netherlands. According to NOS, an increasing number of young people are missing school, calling in sick as they’re unable to cope with the social and academic pressure.

Speaking to the website, one 17-year-old student explained that she called in sick one day every week: "I have complaints every day due to stress, poor sleep, headaches all day long and sometimes I have panic attacks during classes." In a quick survey conducted on the NOS Instagram account, nearly 50 percent of the 1.200 secondary school students admitted to occasionally calling in sick because they felt stressed.

Paediatricians calling for improved awareness and better care

Doctors and paediatricians are therefore calling for more awareness and better care in order to prevent stress among teens and ensure early diagnosis and treatment. "The longer you wait, the more likely it is that the stress, anxiety, and depressive feelings will go off the rails,” Raquel Abrahams, Vice President of the Association of Youth Doctors (AJN), explained, emphasising that long wait times make it difficult for people to get help.

With both the Dutch healthcare system and the education sector facing severe staff shortages, schools and teachers don’t always notice when their students are struggling, and young people are often unable to get the support and care they need in order to feel like they can participate in class and other school and social activities.