Why CHOP’s chief psychiatrist is hopeful in the midst of a child and teen mental health crisis

The children are still not well.

Three years after the Surgeon General of the United States rang alarms about A youth mental health crisisMany young people still have difficulties. Approximately One in five teenagers He is experiencing anxiety and depression. Suicide remains a problem. main cause of death for teenagersand suicide rates continue to rise climbing for black youth.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia area lacks enough psychiatrists specializing in child and adolescent mental health to help treat young people in crisis. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatryor AACAP.

But experts like Tami Benton are hopeful.

Benton is the psychiatrist-in-chief of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and president of AACAP. The Inquirer spoke with her about how the pandemic has affected the youth mental health crisis and when families should seek out a psychiatrist among mental health providers. Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

How did the pandemic affect the mental health of children and adolescents?

Do you know the idea of ​​closing schools? Most children were receiving their mental health services there, and children who were receiving support through their primary care providers stopped receiving them for an extended period of time.

All of those things really contributed to what we saw as a general worsening of the mental health of young people and their families.

Why haven’t we seen more improvements after schools and other programs reopened?

The return to school addressed many concerns, but also highlighted some new ones.

For example, children who survived the pandemic well, maybe they were in sixth or seventh grade when the pandemic hit, when they returned to school, they were in high school. So they didn’t have all the developmental phases that children would normally have gone through.

Some children really lost their sense of belonging during that period and now have a hard time getting it back.

Nowadays, I see a lot of young people worried about the climate and the political environment. If you are a young LGBTQIA person, there is a lot of pressure and negative things happen.

” READ MORE: CHOP’s only child psychiatrist is concerned about the mental health of Philadelphia’s youngest children

There are many types of mental health providers. When should a child see a psychiatrist?

We are doctors, so child psychiatrists are dedicated to understanding and treating the biological basis of diseases, as well as the psychological basis of them.

For young people who have minor or early problems with anxiety or depression, it makes more sense to consult a therapist who can diagnose that condition and treat it.

But when a therapist, psychologist or counselor decides that, in fact, that intervention isn’t working, or if the child is exhibiting moderate or severe symptoms, he or she is much more likely to refer the child to a psychiatrist. Psychotherapy, by itself, is not going to be the only treatment.

We don’t actually typically recommend starting people on medication without any other behavioral or psychological interventions.

Not every child will need to see a child psychiatrist or receive treatment for a serious mental health disorder, but for moderate to severe mental health conditions, it is always wise to consult a psychiatrist.

Are you optimistic or pessimistic that we will be able to get out of this crisis?

I really think we are going in the right direction.

I have never felt more hopeful and optimistic about the possibility of supporting the development of a healthy generation of young people who can reach their potential. I believe we are at a point where we can do it, but we have to do it together.

We all need to come together to support healthy emotional development. I see that happening nationally, if you look at our Congressional hearings and the Surgeon General’s reports. I think we just need to keep moving in the right direction.