Youth ER Visits for Mental Health Issues Drastically Increased over 10 Years

The rate of emergency room visits by children and teens for mental health disorders rose 60% over a decade, according to a new study.

Researchers led by Charmaine Lo, PH.D., M.P.H. at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, assessed the number of Emergency Department (ED) visits by children (5-17 years) with mental health disorders from 2007 to 2016. They found that the number of children and teenagers seen in ERs remained stable, but visits for mental health problems increased dramatically.

Rates of visits for deliberate self-harm for youth ages 15 to 17 had the largest increase, rising 329%. Visits for mental health disorders rose 60% and visits for children with a substance use disorder rose 159%.

"This is happening in all emergency departments all across the country and in kids of all ages," Lo told HealthDay. "And regardless of whether it's a children's hospital or a general hospital, and whether or not they're in an urban location or in a rural location."

The coronavirus pandemic is only going to make things worse, experts also told HealthDay.

“Although this study was conducted prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the increase in social isolation and household stressors caused by the pandemic are likely to further worsen children's mental health," said Dr. Jennifer Hoffmann from the emergency medicine division at the Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

It is clear that many changes to our nation’s mental health system are needed to better prevent, diagnose and treat mental illness among youth before their conditions reach a crisis level that requires a trip to the ER.