COLUMBIA - The pandemic has been on our brains for fifteen months. With it, comes some chronic effects. âSo when it started first, the effects on mental health were more acute in nature," child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Arpit Aggarwal said. "But other things have progressed, we are seeing more and more chronic effects.â Those chronic effects include post traumatic stress. This includes anxiety and depression. Dr. Aggarwal deals with psychiatric emergencies. âI have definitely seen a two or three times increase in the number of kids, which means anyone 18 or below presenting to our E.R. within the last month or two months, partly because I think the schools have reopened,â he said.