Children's mental health alarming post-lockdown

A group of pediatricians and other experts declared children's mental health challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic a "national emergency," on Tuesday, as they called on policymakers to address the crisis which was triggered by prolonged isolation, uncertainty, and grief during the pandemic.

The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association are sounding the alarm over a "shocking" rise in families seeking urgent mental health help for their children.

Dr. Lee Savio Beers, the American Academy of Pediatrics president shed the light on the “escalating mental health crisis” facing the patients and sent an urgent call to policymakers to treat it.

"Shocking" increase in suicide

The medical associations pointed to research done between March and October 2020 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The research found that the proportion of mental health-related emergency department visits increased 24% for children ages 5 to 11 and 31% for children ages 12 to 17 when compared to 2019.

There was also a 50.6% increase in suspected suicide attempt emergency department visits among girls aged 12 to 17 from February 21 to March 20, 2021, compared to the same period in 2019, another CDC study found.

In the first six months of this year, children’s hospitals nationwide also reported a "shocking" 45% increase in the number of self-injury and suicide cases in 5- to 17-year-olds compared to the same period in 2019, according to Children’s Hospital Association President Amy Wimpey Knight.

"We are facing a significant national mental health crisis in our children and teens which requires urgent action," Knight said in a statement.

The medical associations are calling on policymakers to help address the crisis by "increasing federal funding to ensure all families can access mental health services" and supporting "effective models of school-based mental health care," among other measures.

Addressing the crisis through education

The spotlight comes as the US Department of Education released resources Tuesday to help schools support students' mental health, social and emotional needs through the $122 billion in pandemic relief funding made available to state and local education leaders.

"Amid the pandemic, we know that our students have experienced so much. We can't unlock students' potential unless we also address the needs they bring with them to the classroom each day," US Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement. 

The loss of a loved one has affected children and adolescents more than it has other age groups, research from the American Academy of Pediatrics shows. More than 140,000 children in the US have lost at least one caregiver since the start of the pandemic.