Stuff like this breaks my heart frens
Children's Hospitals Grapple With Wave Of Mental Illness
by Tyler Durden - Friday, Jan 08, 2021 - 20:25
Authored by Carmen Heredia Rodriguez via Kaiser Health News,
''Krissy Williams, 15, had attempted suicide before, but never with pills.''
The teen was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 9. People with this chronic mental health condition perceive reality differently and often experience hallucinations and delusions. She learned to manage these symptoms with a variety of services offered at home and at school.
But the pandemic upended those lifelines. She lost much of the support offered at school. She also lost regular contact with her peers. Her mother lost access to respite care โ which allowed her to take a break.
On a Thursday in October, the isolation and sadness came to a head. As Krissyโs mother, Patricia Williams, called a mental crisis hotline for help, she said, Krissy stood on the deck of their Maryland home with a bottle of pain medication in one hand and water in the other.
Before Patricia could react, Krissy placed the pills in her mouth and swallowed.
Efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States have led to drastic changes in the way children and teens learn, play and socialize. Tens of millions of students are attending school through some form of distance learning. Many extracurricular activities have been canceled. Playgrounds, zoos and other recreational spaces have closed. Kids like Krissy have struggled to cope and the toll is becoming evident.
Government figures show the proportion of children who arrived in emergency departments with mental health issues increased 24% from mid-March through mid-October, compared with the same period in 2019. Among preteens and adolescents, it rose by 31%. Anecdotally, some hospitals said they are seeing more cases of severe depression and suicidal thoughts among children, particularly attempts to overdose.
The increased demand for intensive mental health care that has accompanied the pandemic has worsened issues that have long plagued the system. In some hospitals, the number of children unable to immediately get a bed in the psychiatric unit rose. Others reduced the number of beds or closed psychiatric units altogether to reduce the spread of covid-19.
โItโs only a matter of time before a tsunami sort of reaches the shore of our service system, and itโs going to be overwhelmed with the mental health needs of kids,โ said Jason Williams, a psychologist and director of operations of the Pediatric Mental Health Institute at Childrenโs Hospital Colorado.
โI think weโre just starting to see the tip of the iceberg, to be honest with you.โ
Before covid, more than 8 million kids between ages 3 and 17 were diagnosed with a mental or behavioral health condition, according to the most recent National Survey of Childrenโs Health. A separate survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 1 in 3 high school students in 2019 reported feeling persistently sad and hopeless โ a 40% increase from 2009.
The coronavirus pandemic appears to be adding to these difficulties. A review of 80 studies found forced isolation and loneliness among children correlated with an increased risk of depression.
โWeโre all social beings, but theyโre [teenagers] at the point in their development where their peers are their reality,โ said Terrie Andrews, a psychologist and administrator of behavioral health at Wolfson Childrenโs Hospital in Florida. โTheir peers are their grounding mechanism.โ
Childrenโs hospitals in New York, Colorado and Missouri all reported an uptick in the number of patients who thought about or attempted suicide. Clinicians also mentioned spikes in children with severe depression and those with autism who are acting out.
The number of overdose attempts among children has caught the attention of clinicians at two facilities. Andrews from Wolfson Childrenโs said the facility gives out lockboxes for weapons and medication to the public โ including parents who come in after children attempted to take their life using medication.
โThat break is gone,โ she said.
The higher demand for child mental health services caused by the pandemic has made finding a bed at an inpatient unit more difficult.
Krissy Williams, pictured with her brother, lives with schizophrenia. The disruption to her school and health services caused by covid-19 worsened her mental health. In October, she tried to take her own life. (Patricia Williams)
https://khn.org/news/article/childrens-hospitals-grapple-with-wave-of-mental-illness/
https://www.zerohedge.com/medical/childrens-hospitals-grapple-wave-mental-illness