Experts warn global crises are impacting youths' mental health in unprecedented ways
DAYTON, Ohio (WKEF) -- Local mental health experts warn unprecedented global crises are impacting youth in ways they’ve never seen before.
This comes as the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control reveals suicide-related emergency room visits increased more than 50 percent among adolescent girls since the pandemic hit.
Staff at Dayton Children’s Hospital report they’re experiencing an ongoing influx of youth needing mental health services, yet they’re not the only network struggling to keep up with unprecedented demand.
“It's definitely impacted them in ways that we haven't seen generations before impacted by this. I would say for example, the journal of the American Medical Association for Pediatrics reported an increase for anxiety and depression and we haven't seen this rate before,” said Tazeen Ahmed, a senior program coordinator for health policy, with Montgomery County’s Alcohol Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services.
Ahmed explains pandemic isolation and uncertainty paired with the rise of social media use created the perfect storm.
When I asked Ahmed, “Do you think the imagery coming out of the war in Ukraine could exacerbate the crisis?”
She responded, “Yeah, absolutely. Not being able to know what their capacity may be and not being able to limit the exposure that they're having to all the different types of media through so many different platforms, YouTube, Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, etc. And then being able to not have the right social connections to be able to process that as we're still kind of moving through this pandemic and moving through different surges.”
Emily Weitz with Dayton Children’s Hospital is now encouraging parents to limit children’s news media exposure to about an hour a day. She adds youth seeking services have felt overwhelmed with the transition back to in-person learning.
While the CDC reports the increase of suicide-related emergency room visits among teen boys isn’t as drastic as adolescent aged girls, Weitz explains it may be due to the stigma.
“I also wonder at times if the male rates are also underreported because there is such a strong stigma attached to having mental health challenges and a lot of time females are more willing to open up about that. But I also know in particular that females are really impacted by social media,” Weitz said.
Weitz explains warning signs your child may need help include:
- Extreme irritability
- Drastic changes in sleeping or eating patterns
- Withdrawing from friends or activities they used to enjoy
- Giving away items
- Expressing feeling of being a burden to others
“Research shows that it is not harmful to ask somebody, 'are you thinking about hurting yourself? Are you thinking about suicide?' That does not put the idea into their head, and it sometimes takes the pressure off of them to be able to say yes, I need help,” Weitz said.
Ahmed added it’s important for parents to lead by example and prioritize their own mental well-being.
“Even for adults, as they're giving care to young ones in their lives, to be aware of their own emotional and mental health needs and to prioritize that because we lead by example, and being able to take care of oneself shows how others should take care of themselves,” Ahmed said.
Dayton Children’s Hospital encourages parents and all adults who interact with children to join the On Our Sleeves movement to help break the stigma surrounding children’s mental health.
The movement provides email updates with resources for parents, the community, and teachers to better understand how to help children who are struggling.
If you or anyone you know is struggling with your mental health, help is available. You can call Montgomery County’s crisis hotline at 833-580-2255.
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