Surgeon General Says Boosting Youth Mental Health ‘Will Require a Whole-of-Society Effort’

By Jonathan Springston, Editor, Relias Media

Acknowledging various existing youth mental health challenges, which the COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD, this week released a report with recommended action items for the many individuals and institutions that affect the lives of young Americans.

Before the pandemic, an estimated one in five U.S. children ages 3 to 17 years was living with a behavioral, emotional, developmental, or mental disorder, with troubling reports of hopelessness and suicidal ideation. During the pandemic, young people were forced out of routines, isolated at home with awkward remote learning, and separated from friends and other supportive community resources. Parents, educators, and others helped manage this situation as best they could.

“But there is much more to be done, and each of us has a role to play,” Murthy wrote in his report. “Supporting the mental health of children and youth will require a whole-of-society effort to address longstanding challenges, strengthen the resilience of young people, support their families and communities, and mitigate the pandemic’s mental health impacts.”

The report includes 11 chapters dedicated to specific audiences, including one with specific recommendations for healthcare organizations and providers. In it, Murthy calls on providers to implement trauma-informed care principles and other screening, with a specific focus on young people with a history of adverse childhood experiences.

Providers also should screen parents, family members, and caregivers for mental health issues, substance use disorders, and even food insecurity and housing so those adults can be at their best to help their children. In addition, leveraging community partners, child welfare, juvenile justice, hospital-based violence intervention programs, and other trusted resources can support these efforts.

“Our healthcare system today is not set up to optimally support the mental health and wellbeing of children and youth,” Murthy wrote. “We must reimagine how healthcare organizations and health professionals prevent, identify, and address mental health challenges.”

Other chapters are dedicated to obvious audiences, such as one for family and another for educators, but also groups that can play a wider role, such a set of recommendations for media organizations and another targeted to social media/video gaming/technology companies.

The release of this report comes weeks after a coalition declared a national emergency on children’s health and launched an initiative called “Sound the Alarm for Kids.”

“The surgeon general’s commitment to confronting the mental health crisis in children shines a light on why we, as a nation, must take immediate and sustained action,” Amy Wimpey Knight, president of the Children’s Hospital Association, said in a statement. “The advisory outlines concrete steps and actions to address this ongoing crisis for our kids. We will work alongside Dr. Murthy and other leaders to better support the mental health of our nation’s youth.”

The November 2021 issue of Pediatric Emergency Medicine Reports is an in-depth account of the most common mental health presentations in the pediatric population. The authors detail how to effectively engage with and provide proper care for and disposition to this at-risk population.