Krissy Williams, 15, had previously attempted suicide, but had never been on pills.
The teenager was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was 9. People with this mental health condition see a different reality and often experience lies and slander. She learned to manage these symptoms through a range of services offered at home and in school.
But that pandemic cost. She lost much of the support offered at the school. She also lost regular contact with her peers. Her mother missed out on respite care – which allowed her to relax.
On Thursday in October, the loneliness and sadness came to an end. As Krissy’s mother, Patricia Williams, called an emergency helpline, 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 answer, Krissy put the pills in her mouth and swallowed.
Efforts to keep the spread of the novel coronavirus in the United States have led to major changes in the way children and teens learn, play and communicate socially. Tens of millions of students attend the school through some form of distance learning. Many extra-curricular activities were stopped. Playgrounds, zoos and other recreation areas have closed. Kids like Krissy have struggled to cope and the tax is becoming apparent.
Government figures show that the proportion of children arriving at emergency departments with mental health issues increased by 24% from mid-March through mid-October, compared to the same period in 2019. Among preteens and teenagers , it rose 31%. Reportedly, some hospitals reported seeing more cases of severe depression and suicidal thoughts among children, especially attempts at overeating.
The growing demand for intensive mental health care that has accompanied the pandemic has long been damaging to the system. In some hospitals, the number of children who could not get a bed in the psychiatric unit rose immediately. Others reduced the number of beds or closed psychiatric units completely to reduce covid-19 transmission.
“It’s only a matter of time before our service system reaches a coastal tsunami, and it will overcome the mental health needs of children,” said Jason Williams, psychologist and executive director of the Institute’s Pediatric Mental Health Institute Hospital. Children of Colorado.
“I think we’re just starting to see the tip of the iceberg, to be honest with you. ”
Before covid, more than 8 million children between the ages of 3 and 17 were diagnosed with a mental or behavioral health condition, according to the latest National Survey of Child Health. A separate study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1 in 3 high school students in 2019 reported feeling sad and hopeless – a 40% increase from 2009.
Coronavirus pandemic infection appears to contribute to these complications. A study of 80 studies found that forced loneliness and loneliness among children were associated with a lower risk of depression.
“We are all social creatures, but they are [teenagers] at the point in their development where their peers are like the truth, “said Terrie Andrews, a psychologist and behavioral health administrator at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Florida.” Peers are the way to their basic work. “
Children ‘s hospitals in New York, Colorado and Missouri reported an increase in the number of patients thinking about or attempting suicide. Clinicians also reported spikes in children with depression and those with acting autism.
The number of hypertension attempts among children has captured the attention of clinicians at two facilities. Andrews from Wolfson Children said the facility provides locking boxes for weapons and medication to the public – including parents who come in after children try to take their lives using medication -medicine.
The National Children’s Hospital in Washington, DC, has also gained experience, said Dr. Colby Tyson, director of patient psychiatry. She has seen the mental health of children decline as a result of increased family conflict – often as a result of the turmoil caused by pandemics. Without school, peer ties or employment, families have no opportunity to spend time apart and reunite, which can put stress on an already tense situation.
“That break is gone,” she said.
The increased demand for child mental health services caused by the pandemic has made it more difficult to find a bed at a patient unit.
Now, some hospitals are reporting that they are running at full capacity and have more children “boarding,” or sleeping in emergency departments before being admitted to the medical unit. -mind. These include the Institute of Pediatric Mental Health at Colorado Children’s Hospital. Williams said the patient unit has been full since March. Some children now wait nearly two days for bed, up from the usual eight to 10 hours before a pandemic.
The Cincinnati Children ‘s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio is also running at full capacity, clinicians said, and had several days when the unit was overcapacitated and replacing children in the emergency department waiting for get in. In Florida, Andrews said, up to 25 children were held on surgical floors at Wolfson Children while waiting to open a place in the patient psychiatric unit. Their wait could last as long as five days, she said.
Multiple hospitals reported the usual summer decline in child psychiatric admissions last year. “We’ve never seen that through pandemics,” said Andrews. “We stayed completely busy the whole time. “
Some facilities have decided to reduce the number of beds available to maintain physical speed, further limiting provision. The National Children’s Center in DC cut five beds from its unit to maintain one living space in each room, said Dr. Adelaide Robb, head of the department of mental and behavioral sciences.
The steps taken to prevent the spread of covid have also affected the way in which children in hospital receive mental health services. In addition to providers with protective equipment, some hospitals installed Cincinnati Children ‘s refurbished furniture and locked the floor as a souvenir to stay 6 feet apart. UPMC West Psychology Hospital in Pittsburgh and other facilities encourage children to keep their masks on by offering rewards like extra computer time. Patients at National Children now eat in their rooms, a change from when they used to eat together.
Despite the need for distance, social interactions still represent an important part of child mental health care, clinicians said. Resources have created a number of ways to do this safely, including the creation of smaller pods for group healing. Children at Cincinnati can play with toys, but only with ones that can be cleaned clean afterwards. Without cards or board games, said Dr. Suzanne Sampang, clinical medical director for child and adolescent psychiatry at the hospital.
“I think what’s different about psychotherapy is that the treatment is an interaction,” she said, “as well as medication. “
The additional warning of infection control is a challenge to create therapeutic connections. Complexity masks can increase a person’s ability to read a person’s face. Online meetings make it difficult to build trust between patient and therapist.
“There’s something about a true relationship personally that technology can’t give you the best of,” Robb said.
For now, Krissy relies on virtual platforms to access some of her mental health services. Despite being in hospital and suffering from brain damage as a result of the overdose, she is now at home and in good spirits. She loves geometry, dancing on TikTok and trying to beat her mother at Super Mario Bros. on the Wii. But being away from her friends, she said, has been a hard change.
“When you’re used to something,” she said, “it’s not easy to change everything.”
If you have ever considered suicide or someone you know has talked about it, contact the national suicide prevention lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, or use the Lifeline Crisis Conversation online, both available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
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