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Human Rights Research Center
Aug 145 min read

Beyond the Pandemic: Ensuring Mental Health Recovery for America’s Youth

August 14, 2024



Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been long-lasting effects on the mental health of children and adolescents in the United States, including stress, worry, helplessness, and a range of behavioral issues (Meherali, 2021). Many adolescents have shown depressive symptoms during and after the pandemic, especially those in periods of development where they particularly seek peer connection (Panchal, 2021). Current screening and treatment measures have been insufficient in aiding these individuals in their recovery from the pandemic. Quality healthcare is a human right, and although the US healthcare system is burdened, it has shown significant improvement compared to its status during the pandemic. Denying care to children and adolescents suffering from the repercussions of the pandemic, despite having the means to provide it, constitutes a human rights violation.


Over the past decade, mental health-related emergency department visits from US adolescents and children have doubled, with a five-fold increase in suicide-related visits (Boomersbach, 2023). While there are several contributing factors, the COVID-19 pandemic is a known stressor, the aftermath of which we are still experiencing. A systematic review involving 127,923 children across 116 studies showed worsening mental health and increased depression and anxiety symptoms globally (Samji, 2022). Economic upheaval, increased substance abuse, and health concerns related to the pandemic may be contributing factors to this increase (Galea, 2021). Additionally, withdrawal from social activities, less time outdoors, and increased rates of domestic violence were exacerbated by the pandemic, further damaging children’s mental health (de Figueiredo, 2021). Reduced time outdoors and with friends has led children and adolescents to turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms during these stressful life events. Rising rates of substance abuse globally have particularly impacted adolescents, whose brains were still developing during the pandemic (Jones, 2021). Early intervention is necessary to prevent substance abuse and mental disorders in this population, ensuring these issues are not neglected in our strained healthcare system (Marel, 2021). Insufficient efforts are being made to help children recover, and many will continue to struggle until they receive the help they need. Now that the pandemic has largely concluded, investing almost entirely into disease-related healthcare is not as necessary, and the mitigation of the socioeconomic side effects caused by the pandemic should be made more of a priority.


Increased investment in social services in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries has been shown to significantly benefit those suffering from poor mental health (Park, 2020). Although many facilities screen and send social services referrals for patients who need them, longitudinal studies have shown that approximately one-third of those who receive a referral eventually receive assistance from the agency (Kreuter, 2021). Providing help to only one-third of those who need it is insufficient to curb the pandemic's impact on our young population. A diverse array of options is needed, as the current ones do not facilitate better mental health in all individuals. The use of telehealth strategies to expand treatments for adolescents with substance use disorders may be helpful (Calihan, 2022); however, not all families have access to the technology and materials required for these appointments. Families, healthcare providers, and schools can consider the needs of different age groups to create activities that promote healthy development (Amjadi, 2021). Peer support has been shown to alleviate poor mental health in adolescents; however, it is difficult to know the extent that technology helped curb issues with the brain development in socially-isolated youths and more research is needed to understand this (Orben, 2020). The long-term effects of the pandemic are largely unknown and more efforts should be made to provide resources to adolescents affected by this public health emergency.


Increased funding to promote awareness and research on the mental health of children and adolescents post-pandemic could help mitigate the issues at hand. As it currently stands, insufficient efforts are being made to help these individuals. Their mental health is unlikely to improve on its own over time, and as a society, we need to address this systemic issue.


 

Sources


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