Business owners in Shanghai rebuild after lockdown, psychologist says children affected

Record ID: 1675287

  • Title: Business owners in Shanghai rebuild after lockdown, psychologist says children affected
  • Date: 2nd June 2022
  • Summary: SHANGHAI, CHINA (JUNE 2, 2022) (REUTERS) PSYCHOLOGIST, SHARON YEN, WALKING IN THE HOSPITAL YEN READING PATIENT FILES IN THE OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST, SHARON YEN, SAYING: “They kind of like lost this sense of time. So a lot of kids, because they do not have a very clear physical boundary in terms of school, home, so they study at their room, they eat in their room, and maybe watch TV and have some recreation activities at their room. So it could be like, they procrastinate about their homework gradually over time, and their sleep schedule has changed significantly. And over time, they just kind of like lost motivation to do things that they used to enjoy.” YEN WORKING AT THE DESK
  • Embargoed: 16th June 2022 12:16
  • Keywords: China Shanghai barbershop children close depression lockdown mental psychology suicide trauma
  • Location: SHANGHAI, CHINA
  • City: SHANGHAI, CHINA
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA004222002062022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Small business owners in Shanghai looked to rebuild on Thursday (June 2), after the city's two-month COVID-19 lockdown was eased on June 1.
    While China has declared victory over the virus in Shanghai, residents are grappling with the trauma of their experience.
    Iris Qi, who started her own cafe in May 2021, was one of those.
    Qi says she has barely received any income in the past three months, but still has to pay quarterly rental rates for her store of around 100,000 yuan ($14,957).
    "It's hard to fall asleep every night. I am very anxious," she said about the losses she was incurring.
    Qi plans to reopen for business but isn't expecting a fast recovery with dining-in still not allowed within the business hub.
    Recovery for her mental state will take time too.
    "Now I can go to work, but I am not ready for it mentally. I think emotional things require a very long process to adjust," Qi said, adding that was undecided about continuing when the lease for her store was up.
    For barber Martin Li, the first day of freedom in Shanghai meant returning to his salon to pack up and move out, after he was told his store had been repossessed during the lockdown, effectively winding up his business.
    Li's salon, which first opened in 2019, was attracting a foreign clientele pre-pandemic, but many of his customers have now left amid the unpredictable life that comes hand-in-hand with China’s continuing zero-COVID strategy.
    The 24-year-old told Reuters having to close his shop was "painful".
    "Not many stores can survive the epidemic for two to three months without any income,” he said, as he worked from a temporary location inside a friend's store.
    To a clinical psychologist, Sharon Yen, young children and adolescents would feel the effects of a lockdown too.
    Yen says some children, many of whom have been studying at home, would have been affected with disrupted routines, a loss of personal contact, and a blurring of boundaries.
    She expects to see more kids coming through her doors seeking help but said it was the ones that needed help but weren't receiving it due to a stigma around mental illnesses in China that worried her even more.
    “Over time, they just kind of like lost motivation to do things that they used to enjoy,” Yen said.
    (Production: Xihao Jiang, Xiaoyu Yin)
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