Top child psychiatrist calls for urgent community supports after 45% increase in mental health presentations

Dr Elizabeth Barrett said Temple Street had treated children of all ages for “a lot of stress and distress in the context of the pandemic.” File Picture.

There has been a 45% increase in the numbers of children going to Temple Street and Crumlin hospitals with mental health problems since the pandemic started.

And top child psychiatrist Dr Elizabeth Barrett said better support is urgently needed in the community and in hospitals.

Dr Barrett, a consultant in child and adolescent liaison psychiatry at Temple Street, said the hospital had treated more patients in the emergency department and more children with chronic illness who needed mental health supports.

“There are more and more young people presenting to the emergency department, and during the pandemic it has worsened,” she said.

Dr Barrett said they treated children of all ages for “a lot of stress and distress in the context of the pandemic”. 

A spokeswoman for Children’s Health Ireland said the increase began in late 2020. 

She said: “The number of under 18s with a mental health presentation at Crumlin and Temple Street during 2019 was 593. For 2020 it was 861 which is a 45% increase."

Dr Barrett estimated they saw a two-thirds increase in teenagers with eating disorders.

She said: “Most eating disorder treatment happens with the community CAMHS teams. At the moment more young people are unwell enough to need to be admitted.” 

Dr Barrett said some children were relieved to miss school.

“But for most children and families, being back in school has very significant supports and benefits,” she said.

The increasing numbers led more doctors to choose paediatric mental health training posts, said Dr Michael Boyle, national specialty director for higher speciality training in paediatrics.

This follows a round of interviews last month for training posts countrywide. 

He said: “Almost every single one brought up the amount of paediatric mental health issues they were seeing in the emergency departments and the admissions.

“That is something we have never really had people bring up hugely before.” 

They reported “depressive episodes, anxiety issues, eating disorders". 

Ten wanted to train with the mental health team at Temple Street, he said up from “one or two” usually with more requests for other mental health posts also.