There Was a Mental Health Crisis Before the Covid 19 Pandemic for Children and Adolescents

There is a common misconception among many people that the Covid 19 pandemic caused the crisis in obtaining mental health care for children and adolescents. There is a plethora of evidence-based research confirming that the pandemic exacerbated the crisis, but the crisis existed well before it became a problem in the United States. I speak from experience as a front line clinical therapist. The shortage of mental health services for children and adolescents has existed for years prior to the pandemic. The only difference is that the problem is now worse than ever in my experience.

I frequently find myself searching for hours trying to find psychiatric support for my younger clients. I have been frustrated by the dearth of child and adolescent psychiatrists or mental health nurse practitioners who are willing to accept new patients. Based on my experience, I would say it is a minimum of 6 weeks and an average of 60-90 days to have one of my referrals accepted for psychiatric care.And that is assuming they have good health insurance. Paying out of pocket is prohibitive for most of my clients. As the attached article confirms, delays in providing appropriate mental health can have tragic consequences.

I am trying to team with the National Association of Social Workers and American Psychiatric Association to address some of the major issues which prevent appropriate mental health care for children and adolescents. I am trying to identify the reasons for the reluctance for psychiatrists to treat children and adolescents. Once the problems are identified we need to come up with solutions. Although I sometimes have difficulty in finding psychiatric services for my adult clients, the problem is not nearly as bad. I have a much easier time getting them help, usually within 4 weeks. Clearly that is not ideal either, but is far better than psychiatric services available to children and adolescents. We need to do better by our young people in the United States. We talk about family values. It is time we walk the talk.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/magazine/2022/03/21/childrens-mental-health-crisis-politicization/