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More than one in three high school students last year experienced poor mental health and 44% reported they felt sad or hopeless during the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In a report released April 1, the CDC said it analyzed 7,705 responses to a survey conducted between January and June 2021.
Compared with 2019, the proportion of mental health-related emergency department (ED) visits in 2020 increased by approximately 31% among teens 12 to 17 years old, and one in three students who had ever used alcohol and other drugs reported using these substances more during the pandemic.
These findings bolster those of earlier studies on the effects of COVID-19 measures on U.S. children and adolescents.
The CDC reported last month that ED visits for mental health conditions sharply increased during the first two years of the pandemic.
Between March and October 2020, among all ED visits, the proportion of mental health-related visits increased by 24% among U.S. children ages 5 to 11, the report also said.
The report added that the proportion of ED visits for eating disorders doubled among adolescent females in 2021, while those for tic disorders almost tripled during the pandemic.
The CDC also documented increases related to anxiety, trauma and stress and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The agency also found during the past three years a rise in suicide attempts among people younger than 18.
WHO finds mental health impacted 25% worldwide, women and children hit hardest
The World Health Organization (WHO) last month issued a scientific briefing summarizing mental health findings worldwide from the first year of the pandemic.
The WHO survey found a 25% increase in anxiety and depression, with the largest burden falling upon women and children.
The brief, compiled from “a comprehensive review of existing evidence about the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and mental health services, including estimates from the latest Global Burden of Disease Study,” showed the pandemic has affected the mental health of young people who are “disproportionally at risk of suicidal and self-harming behaviors.”
In a press release summarizing the brief, the WHO reported women have been more severely affected than men, and people with pre-existing physical health conditions — such as asthma, cancer and heart disease — were more likely to develop symptoms of mental disorders.
“Data suggests that people with pre-existing mental disorders do not appear to be disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 infection,” the release said.
“Yet, when these people do become infected, they are more likely to suffer hospitalization, severe illness and death compared with people without mental disorders. People with more severe mental disorders, such as psychoses, and young people with mental disorders, are particularly at risk.”
Dévora Kestel, director of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse at the WHO, summed up the situation:
“While the pandemic has generated interest in and concern for mental health, it has also revealed historical under-investment in mental health services. Countries must act urgently to ensure that mental health support is available to all.”
Children’s mental health declared a national emergency
The American Academy of Pediatrics and two other health organizations last October jointly declared children’s mental health a national emergency:
“This worsening crisis in child and adolescent mental health is inextricably tied to the stress brought on by COVID-19 and the ongoing struggle for racial justice and represents an acceleration of trends observed prior to 2020. Rates of childhood mental health concerns and suicide rose steadily between 2010 and 2020 and by 2018 suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24.
“The pandemic has intensified this crisis: across the country we have witnessed dramatic increases in Emergency Department visits for all mental health emergencies including suspected suicide attempts.”
In December 2021, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a similar warning about children. According to the warning:
“Recent national surveys of young people have shown alarming increases in the prevalence of certain mental health challenges — in 2019, one in three high school students and half of female students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, an overall increase of 40% from 2009.
“We know that mental health is shaped by many factors, from our genes and brain chemistry to our relationships with family and friends, neighborhood conditions, and larger social forces and policies.
“We also know that, too often, young people are bombarded with messages through the media and popular culture that erode their sense of self-worth — telling them they are not good looking enough, popular enough, smart enough, or rich enough.
“That comes as progress on legitimate, and distressing, issues like climate change, income inequality, racial injustice, the opioid epidemic, and gun violence feels too slow.”
A June 2020 national survey of 3,300 high schoolers conducted in 2020 found 30% of young people said they have “more often been feeling unhappy or depressed.”
And a study of pediatric insurance claims filed between January and November 2020, conducted by the nonprofit FAIR Health, found a dramatic increase in mental-health-related issues, especially generalized anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder and intentional self-harm.
