Abstract
Insecurity and tension generally cause emotional, psychological, and mental imbalances among adolescents. This research paper discussed the impact of the sit-at-home protest in southeast Nigeria on the mental health of secondary school students. A cross-sectional study was conducted among higher secondary school students of Enugu South Local Government Area within the Agbani Education Zone of Enugu State Southeast Nigeria to monitor how these students cope with tensions and rumours of insecurity vis-a-vis mental health in the area. The sample size was calculated to be 2144. The final sample size was estimated to be 1379. Hence, about 1379 students were targeted for data collection. 16 public, private, and mission schools were randomly selected, and all the higher secondary school (SS 2&3) students in that school were enrolled in the study. The Patient Health Questionnaire, The Generalized Anxiety disorder scale and Kessler Psychological Distress scale were used to collect data on depression, anxiety and psychological distress. Data entry and analysis were done using IBM SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics such as mean and percentage were used. Findings from the study indicate that a significant proportion of higher secondary students in Enugu South Local Government Area exhibited elevated levels of mental health symptoms. Approximately 20% of students reported experiencing mild to moderate levels of both depression and anxiety, while a similar percentage reported medium or high levels of psychological distress. These findings suggest a substantial impact of sit-at-home protests on the mental well-being of this population. This research identifies groups that display higher levels of psychological distress and lower overall well-being and connectedness due to the sit-at-home order. It was recommended that government should conduct a thorough assessment of the mental health status of higher secondary students in Enugu South Local Government Area, focusing on symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Keywords
Sit-at-home protest, Mental health, Higher secondary students, Enugu South Local Government Area, Enugu State.