For many children, this new wave of infections will mean additional disruptions to their daily lives: reduced access to nutritious food, less physical activity, perhaps even limits on playtime with friends. Taken together, these and other overlapping impacts affect both their physical and mental health.
I've worked on health issues around the globe for decades, including during the Ebola epidemic and other crises. Though the pandemic has created global health challenges previously unseen, as president and CEO of UNICEF USA, I know that children are becoming the hidden victims of the pandemic.
A new CDC analysis finds that since 2019, the proportion of mental health-related emergency room visits for children aged 5 to 11 and 12 to 17 years increased approximately 24% and 31%, respectively. So why are more kids ending up in the emergency room for mental health issues? Part of the answer seems to be that critical mental health services, like counseling, are being disrupted by the pandemic. Indeed, a recent report found that 93% of countries worldwide are facing such disruptions. Many of those services are typically made available through schools and other community institutions, institutions that are now being forced to move online or adapt their programming.
I've seen firsthand — not just in the United States but in all corners of the globe, from Syrian refugees in Jordan to Sri Lanka — that psychosocial support for children in moments of crisis is the key to ensuring that critical years of learning are not lost. To help kids cope with this crisis today, and to reduce years of turmoil and future trauma and health impacts, governments, schools and nonprofit organizations must act urgently to expand equitable access to mental health services and other forms of psychosocial CONTINUE READING: America's children are facing a mental health crisis that no one is talking about | Salon.com