Source/Disclosures
Disclosures: Healio was unable to determine the material financial information at the time of publication.
Key points:
- One in five children in the United States suffers from a mental disorder every year.
- The AMA has adopted a policy that supports efforts to increase the mental health care workforce.
During the meeting of the House of Delegates, the AMA adopted a policy recognizing that children’s mental health and barriers to care in the United States are a national emergency.
Several other medical organizations, including the AAP, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association, have previously declared the current mental health crisis in youth a national emergency.
“Most of our children not only face mental health disorders, but are not receiving treatment,” said the immediate past president of the AMA. Jack Resneck Jr., MD, said in a press release. “We are in a crisis with children’s mental health and we must come together as a nation to do everything we can to prioritize children’s mental, emotional and behavioral health and ensure they have access to the care they need.”
A 2022 JAMA Pediatrics The study found that from 2016 to 2020, children and adolescents experienced a significant increase in anxiety (7.1% to 9.2%) and depression (3.1% to 4.0%), as well as a decrease in preventive medical visits (from 83.3% to 78.1%).
The AMA added that about one in five children in the United States suffers from a mental health disorder each year and cited data from the CDC that showed suicide was the second leading cause of death among children ages 10 to 14. years starting in 2021.
The policy also calls on the AMA to join other organizations and parties in advocating for a larger mental health workforce to address youth’s shortages and access to behavioral health care.
Integrated behavioral care has increased in the primary care setting over the past decade, with the number of primary care visits addressing mental health issues increasing nearly 50% from 2006 to 2018.
“Physicians play a vital role in identifying and treating children’s mental disorders, and it is imperative that more physicians and mental health professionals are trained and available to fill the gaps that exist for children accessing mental health care Resneck said.
References:
Meeting of the American Medical Association
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