Are there online support groups

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As pediatric providers dedicated to providing high-quality care for children and adolescents, many of us have experienced an unprecedented surge in mental health needs among our patients. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacted an enormous toll on childrens mental health: exacerbating social isolation, depression, anxiety, and trauma, and further straining our already fragile mental health care system.

Younger children have not been spared from this crisismore than 20 of 5-12-year-olds report worsened mental health since the start of the pandemic. As a pediatrician, a large part of the role I play in mental health prevention and care is giving our youngest patientsand their caregiversthe language and tools needed to express their feelings and emotions.

My team and I have implemented universal screening for both mental health conditions and the social determinants of mental and physical health that place children at high risk for mental illness. We see universal screening for these risks as a critical step to early identification and ensuring access to and engagement in care and support.

In my pediatric practice, many of the children and adolescents I care for are also contending with significant social needs including poverty, food and housing insecurity, exposure to violence, and racism. These experiences are often traumatic and contribute to high rates of mental and physical health disorders as well as to disparities in needed care.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry jointly declared the soaring rates of child mental health conditions a national emergency and have identified pediatric providers as critical gateways for expanded access to mental health screening and care.

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