Students are suffering with mental health issues and well-begin due to the pandemic closing schools. | Pixabay
Students are suffering with mental health issues and well-begin due to the pandemic closing schools. | Pixabay
Chicago Public Schools high school students are dealing with mental distress the return to in-person learning remains in flux.
Now nearing a year of schools being closed, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that students have more intense symptoms of depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses.
The scene isn’t better across the country as the number of children’s mental health-related emergency department visits is increasing, especially for children between 12 and 17 years old. The increase in the number of visits is 31%, as compared to 2019.
In the days before the pandemic, nearly one of every five teens in Illinois faced mental health issues by graduation, according to challenges Dr. John Walkup, chair of Gov. Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Lurie in the Sun-Times article.
With the added isolation, family economic challenges and other pressures stemming from the pandemic, Walkup said the situation has only worsened. Outpatient visits for mental health services have spiraled by as much as 15% since before the pandemic.
Walkup said common symptoms of adolescent depression include an inability to experience happiness, restless sleep and low energy.
“We’re seeing more kids who are feeling suicidal, more kids who are worried about the future,” Walkup said. “We’re seeing kids who have more eating problems. And we’re seeing kids who are coming to the emergency department who have more physical symptoms that probably have a psychiatric cause.”
Those seeking mental health support can call NAMI Chicago’s Helpline at 833-626-4244 or the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 800-273-8255.
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