Post-Pandemic Mental Health Crisis: Taking a Closer Look at How It Is Affecting Today’s Youth
As the nation prepares to come upon three full years since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we are watching the demand for mental health services soar to an all-time high. Our youth‘s need is even starker. While some children flourished in their newly-found remote environments, many are struggling psychologically.
Pre-pandemic, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that approximately one in five kids in the United States suffered from a mental health disorder, but only about 20 percent of those children ever received any type of care from a mental health provider. Especially now — due to the amount of trauma, isolation, loss, unpredictable routines, and fear — our nation’s youth need more resources and support than ever before. (Reference 1)
Was It Just a Matter of Time?
According to Duncan Young, CEO of Effective School Solutions, this crisis we’re facing with young people’s mental health has been in the making for around 15 years — the pandemic just exacerbated it.
According to Young, the research that measures children’s mental health, using a variety of metrics, saw stable statistics until around 2009. After that, we began seeing a deterioration. More recently, that downturn has been accompanied by a rise in worrying trends, including suicide.
The initial reasoning behind this uptick in mental distress, self-harming, and suicidal thoughts, is due to the overuse of smartphones and social media. And this increase was only supercharged by the pandemic, he says.
The fact that our youth feel marginalized and socially isolated must be taken seriously. COVID-19 was and still is associated with an insurmountable amount of stress and isolation. And those two items are among the largest factors in our mental health.
Moreover, the isolation of remote learning or food scarcity from panic buying worsened the anxiety of children who relied on school meals. Albeit, many schools have now opened, some are still practicing remote or hybrid classrooms — leaving this to still be an issue of concern.
Why Parents Are Worried and How We Can Provide Support
The increased stress from the pandemic placed a lot of tension on many important relationships. People were in survival mode and just trying to get by. Because parents didn’t have many safe places to express their emotions during the lockdown, children didn’t either. And they also had to witness the stress their parents were experiencing. A lot of negative patterns developed.
According to the Pew Research Center, more than three-quarters of today’s parents are expressing concerns regarding their children’s mental health. Among the top concerns listed was mental health — topping bullying abduction. 36% of those surveyed said they were somewhat worried about their child’s struggles with anxiety or depression while 40% said they were very worried.
Schools are one of the most crucial places for our youth to receive mental health services and support. Unfortunately, funding and shortages make it increasingly difficult for schools to provide this to their students. Thankfully, a newly proposed bill in the state legislature of Colorado aims to help this very issue by providing funding to give students the opportunity for mental health evaluations annually.
One positive aspect some schools are seeing is the closeness of their students. With schools being unable to provide these services to their students on a regular basis, they are noticing that they are turning to their fellow classmates for support. There are more peer groups building connection and trust than ever before.
An additional space for our youth is their doctor’s office. Per the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, it is recommended that adolescents between the ages of 8 to 18 get screened for depression and anxiety for preventative measures and early intervention. Beyond that, pediatricians can share their advice and guidelines to help direct families, guardians, and members of the community to sources of support, such as youth programs or health clinics.
MHT Helping Pediatricians Post-Pandemic
At MHT, we help primary care physicians accurately screen and diagnose their patients through a convenient cloud-based program.
Unfortunately, with children, their parents are usually present during any type of questioning— potentially leading to dishonest answers. However, when you utilize the MHT screening assessment tool, patients are given the courtesy of answering questions on their phones or tablets at home or in the waiting room prior to their appointment. For adults and children alike, this allows for a more open and honest forum.
To speak with one of our highly knowledgeable customer service representatives, contact us today.
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