Demand for adolescent mental health care skyrocketed last year amid the pandemic, though their overall need for care declined, according to a new FAIR Health analysis.
Why it’s important: Parents, schools and pediatricians have been warning for months that children are not well, and this analysis supports their concern with numbers.
The big picture: The coronavirus pandemic has been detrimental to the lives of Americans of all ages, but for adolescents, isolation and routine change occur during a critical developmental stage.
- Some experts say the fact that staying home has affected children’s mental health is one of the many reasons why schools should reopen.
By numbers: Mental health care claim lines (or individual health services) for children ages 13 to 18 doubled in March and April last year, compared to 2019.
- In contrast, the number of general claim lines for this age group was about half the 2019 level.
- This trend continued until November, albeit in a less drastic way.
Details: Women were much more likely to require mental health care than men.
- The percentage of all medical claim lines that occurred for intentional self-injury nearly doubled in March and April, compared to the same month in 2019. Overdose claim lines increased 94.91% in March and 119.31% in April compared to the previous year. Both remained high until November.
- The most common diagnoses in adolescents were major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and adjustment disorders. These conditions also became more frequent, as a percentage of total medical claims lines, compared to 2019 levels.
What we are seeing: Mental health problems can be situational, but that doesn’t mean that once the pandemic is over, it will return to normal.
- Some children are likely to need long-term treatment, which the U.S. health care system has historically been bad for.