Pediatricians, Psychiatrists Declare Emergency In Child Mental Health

By Newsmax
Posted on 10/19/21 | News Source: Newsmax

Fear, grief, uncertainty and isolation during the pandemic have triggered a national state of emergency in the mental health of America’s youth, leading child health care groups warned Tuesday.

Youngsters already faced significant mental health challenges, and the pandemic has made them worse, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA). Together, they represent more than 77,000 physicians and more than 200 children’s hospitals.

“Children’s mental health is suffering. Young people have endured so much throughout this pandemic and while much of the attention is often placed on its physical health consequences, we cannot overlook the escalating mental health crisis facing our patients,” AAP President Dr. Lee Savio Beers said in a news release from the three groups.

“Today’s declaration is an urgent call to policymakers at all levels of government ⁠— we must treat this mental health crisis like the emergency it is,” Savio Beers urged.

The statistics bear that out: Between March and October 2020, the percentage of emergency department visits for children with mental health emergencies rose by 24% among children aged 5 to 11 and by 31% among children aged 12 to 17, the groups said in a statement. And there were 50% more suspected suicide attempt-related emergency room visits among girls aged 12 to 17 in early 2021 than in early 2019.