It’s not getting as much coverage as it should, but we’re in the midst of a pediatric mental health crisis.

I had a vague idea this was going on during the Delta surge of the COVID pandemic, but when I began working in pediatrics full-time, I saw just how intense things had become. During the height of lockdown, pediatric mental health admissions across the country shot up, but while other aspects of life are starting to return to pre-pandemic norms, this aspect of the crisis has not. Hospitals nationwide are still seeing off-the-charts numbers of teens and children affected by self-harm, suicidal ideation, and other severe mental health needs. But here’s the kicker: while the pandemic was certainly a catalyst, we can’t pin down just one reason this is happening.

For many children and teens who had to shift to at-home learning, they became stuck in toxic home environments, pushing them beyond what was emotionally —and sometimes physically— safe for them.

In isolation, many turned to social media as an outlet, and while social media can keep people connected with friends, these platforms allow for far more curation of image. On social media, we see others’ highlight reels, not their blooper reels, and constant exposure to these platforms isn’t great for self-esteem (not to mention all the doom-scrolling and hate speech out there).

Then there’s the school system itself. I feel like, since my days in the classroom, the pressure on students to excel has taken a quantum leap. Good grades are no longer enough. Students need extracurriculars, leadership experiences, and flawless academic performance just to get on many colleges’ radars, let alone access those coveted scholarship dollars. High schools are pressure cookers nowadays, and I’m seeing this kind of competition at the middle school level now too.

And then there’s the basic fact that the teen years are rough. With all the physiological and hormonal changes, preteen and teen emotions are like a jet engine with bicycle breaks. Being a preteen or teen is hard. Always has been. Now throw in the fact that many people who struggle with lifelong mental illness experience the first symptoms in adolescence or early adulthood, and those difficult years get all the more overwhelming.

And as we’ve said already, hospitals have never seen these volumes of pediatric mental health patients before, and this is happening all over the country. Mental health professionals nationwide are trying to meet these needs with resources we haven’t had time to build.

In the face of all these factors —home life, social media, school stress, biological changes, difficulty accessing appropriate healthcare, overwhelmed hospital systems—, it’s hard to know where to start. Tackling a crisis of this nature requires interventions at the personal, community, corporate, and governmental levels, so maybe the best first question to ask is: “What’s my piece of the puzzle?”

As a chaplain, spiritual health is my focus, but I also work with nurses, doctors, social workers, and other medical professionals who bring whole other skillsets.
Maybe you’re a teacher and can help address stress in your classroom.
Maybe you’re a parent who can advocate on this issue with others.
Maybe you’re in tech and can develop better parental controls on social media.
Maybe you’re involved in local government and can lobby for stronger school resources or family assistance programs or more accessible mental healthcare.
Or maybe you’ve just got access to a lot of money and can help equip other workers with the resources they need to care for these children and teenagers.

The thing about a crisis is that it’s rarely solved by one person. It takes each of us carefully considering our own piece in the larger puzzle and acting accordingly. There are a lot of kids out here who need our help right now. What’s your piece going to be?

For the record, if you’re looking to donate somewhere, I’m a big fan of NAMI. However, if you’d like to donate specifically to the hospital where I work, I won’t say no! Hit the “connect” button in the top right menu, and I’d be happy to give you donation info.