At this point in our history, we should all be used to hearing about how mental health is becoming more of a problem among humanity because of all of the stress and challenges brought on by the Coronavirus. Most of us are aware that people are not getting the mental health assistance that they need for any number of causes or preventions, and that’s just one of the reasons that everyone across the planet hopes that this COVID-19 pandemic is behind us as soon as possible.
One of the innumerable unfortunate aspects of the pandemic is that given the radical daily life change that’s been forced on nearly all of us, we tend to forget that there were serious problems that existed within our society long before this public health emergency hit. One of them was the overall status of mental health among young people in the United States. The findings uncovered in a recent study should serve as a reminder that as much as we have to deal with related to the current crisis, there is also a lot simmering under the surface that needs our attention. This study revealed that in the years prior to the pandemic, the number of mental health ER visits among young people had skyrocketed.
The Nationwide Children’s Hospital Study – A Brief Overview
The study, descriptively entitled, “Children’s Mental Health Emergency Department Visits: 2007–2016” was completed by researchers from the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The study was published in Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The full text for the study can be found here. The researchers reviewed data between the years 2007 and 2016 that related to the number of emergency department visits made by children between the ages of 5 and 17 who had a mental health disorder.
A summary of the findings include:
- Overall, the number of pediatric emergency department visits was stable during the decade.
- The number of mental health ER visits among youths rose by a factor of 60 percent.
- ER visits by children with a substance abuse disorder rose by a factor of 159 percent.
- Visits by children with alcohol-related disorders fell by a factor of 39 percent.
- Mental health ER visits among children for self-harm rose by an astounding 329 percent.
- Visits by children to low-volume ER units rose by a factor of 53 percent.
- Visits by children to non-metropolitan ER units rose by 41 percent.
- The largest age range increase in visits was from 15-17 years old, which rose by 68 percent.
- The rate of rise in girls’ visits was higher, rising by a factor of 74 percent during those 10 years.
Anyone who would review these findings would find them at best troubling, and at worst a clear indicator that a public health emergency is developing if it isn’t already fully blooming. There are also some other conclusions that could reasonably be drawn based on this data relating to mental health ER visits:
- Substance abuse among young people is an extremely serious problem that’s getting worse.
- It appears that substances other than alcohol are responsible for this growing problem.
- Self-harm is an issue that warrants immediate study, attention and intervention on several levels.
- Mental health ER visits by children is both a rural and urban problem.
- Teens appear especially beset by mental health difficulties.
- Girls in particular appear to be suffering from large-scale mental health challenges.
What This All Means
Aside from the relatively obvious responses immediately above, what this study should tell us is that the next generation is suffering immensely from mental health difficulties. Some of this rise in the number of mental health ER visits could be due to increased awareness of the issues that young people face, which is a good thing, but the silver linings in these data are few and far between.
Experts tend to agree that mental health problems that arise at young ages, if they go untreated or they are not properly treated, can manifest themselves in much more serious ways as these struggling young people move into adult age. Therefore, it’s possible that the years to come could see a large uptick in the number of people who struggle with mental health issues in the United States, and that not only doesn’t bode well for the people inflicted with these different diseases, but it will clearly have a negative effect on society as a whole.
Don’t Be Afraid to Get Help
If you are a parent of a child who you suspect may be suffering from a mental health condition, the time to allow yourself to let it go has long since passed by. You need to take immediate action to get your child the help that he or she needs. Mental health problems are a disease, and most serious diseases will not simply cure themselves. Patients suffering from diseases such as cancer need medical intervention, a strong support group and an ongoing effort in order to recover, and the same goes for people who suffer in this regard.
If you are an adult who is suffering from mental health challenges, whether you had them as a child or not, you also need to take immediate steps to get the help that you need, as your situation could get much worse very quickly as well. Swift Recovery Solutions is a potential resource for adults who are struggling in this manner, and our overriding interest is to resolve as many mental health challenges as possible across the human race. That starts in childhood for many, which is why we hope this study rings alarm bells for people from all walks of life. If you need help now, though, you should reach out to us today so we can, before we do anything else, listen to your story and then help you decide how to proceed. The time to act is now, and we look forward to being there with you.
