Canadian teens still struggle with mental health even as pandemic wanes

When 16-year-old Abbey Keays thinks back to the early days of the pandemic — the lockdowns and online teaching — she can’t help but reflect on what she and other teens missed out on.

During the pandemic, I personally felt a lot of negative emotions and some problems with my mental health, she said in an interview from her home in Hamilton, Ontario.

I think it’s because we missed out on so much of what we expected our lives to be like.

Three years later, even as the pandemic has waned, Keays said he sees many teens still struggling.

Doctors say their needs continue to outstrip the services available to help.

If you look at the different studies that have been done since COVID-19, there has been a crisis – a mental health crisis – affecting children and young people, said Dr. Stacey Bélanger, a specialist in pediatric mental health at Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal.

Bélanger, who is part of the mental health task force of the Canadian Society of Pediatrics, said that pediatric centers have seen increases in hospitalizations and emergency room visits for mental health problems such as eating disorders, anxiety and suicide attempts since the beginning of pandemic.

Needs existed before the pandemic and have definitely increased since the pandemic, Belanger said. And I can’t say that we’re even close to where we should be today to provide the services that we’re supposed to offer young people.

Teenage girls struggle more, research suggests

In the US, data from the Centers for Disease Control (new window) suggests that the mental health of American teenagers has deteriorated since 2011 and that it has continued into the pandemic.

According to its latest Youth Risk Behavior Survey, there have been increases in the percentage of students who:

• Experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
• Seriously considered a suicide attempt.
• Made a suicide plan.
• Suicide attempt.

Teenage girls and LGBQ students (the survey did not specifically include data on students who identify as transgender) were particularly affected, with 60% of female students and 70% of LGBQ students feeling persistently sad or hopeless when the survey was conducted in 2021 .

Canadian studies have shown a similar imbalance.

Melissa Généreux, a public health physician in Sherbrooke, Que., noted a gender discrepancy in her recent survey of young people in Quebec.

Girls, transgender and nonbinary teens reported higher rates of anxiety and depression symptoms than boys.

Généreux has been surveying young people in various regions on mental health since early 2020 for the regional health authority.

Overall, about 20% reported poor or poor mental health in a survey taken in January. It involved 18,000 people aged between 12 and 25 years.

Généreux said it’s an improvement from the previous year, when 30% reported mental health issues, but still double what it was before the pandemic.

For me this is really alarming and we need to be aware of this and do something to support these young people, she said.

an overlooked problem

Tracy Vaillancourt, chair of research Canada in school mental health and violence prevention at the University of Ottawa, said the Canadian health system was already struggling to meet the mental health needs of young people before the pandemic, and they continue to increase.

We’ve neglected this part of children’s health for so long, said Vaillancourt. It just blows my mind.

Vaillancourt said there is a lack of consistent nationally representative data on adolescent well-being and that this needs to change to better understand mental health needs.

She said that while some children have done well during the pandemic — for example, virtual classes have removed stressors for some who were bullied at school — others have experienced significant distress.

In addition to isolation and pandemic disruptions, Vaillancourt said social media and family stressors also took a toll on teens.

She said Canada needs a national mental health strategy for children and youth, and universal school programs to help children develop social and emotional capacity.

New and most needed programs

Geertika Jeyaganesha, 17, wanted to help a friend connect with mental health support, but she found services available lacking.

This led her to start her own organization, Nurtured Youth Community, which offers online workshops with a variety of mental health professionals.

The main problem with young people’s mental health is that the idea of ​​having mental health problems is so normalized, Jeyaganesha said.

Your organization aims help people get out of that space, said the teen, who lives in Markham, Ont.

Keays, the Hamilton teen, would also like to see more mental health support available to young people.

She is part of BGC Canada (formerly known as the Boys and Girls Club) and said participating in programs there during the pandemic has helped her maintain a sense of connection with others.

BGC Canada, along with the Canadian Mental Health Association, is calling on the federal government to increase funding for mental health services for young people.

They point to a study by the Canadian Institute of Health Information, which found that nearly half of young people who sought mental health support had difficulty accessing it.

Care is not available or not covered by public health insurance, said Valentina Shamoun, member of the National Youth Council of BGC Canada.

Tyler Black, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at BC Children’s Hospital, echoed this concern. Black said he sees the lack of access to services as part of ongoing pre-pandemic trends that have been getting worse.

More longitudinal studies are needed in Canada to really understand where teens are doing and what effect the pandemic has had on existing issues, he said.

He said levels of mental distress point to long-term problems, including years of underfunding services for children.

Young people in Généreux’s survey said they found it difficult to talk to their parents, friends or teachers – relationships that could help people better cope with stress and anxiety.

Généreux recommends that schools help students learn tools to process their emotions and recognize signs of mental health problems, and that governments prioritize investment in mental health services for young people.

Alison Northcott (new window) · CBC News ·