Number of children seeking mental health care soared last year

Based on figures obtained from the three public paediatric EDs in the greater Dublin region serving a paediatric population of 430,000, mental health presentations by children aged 5 to 15 increased by 52.4% during July and August last year compared to the corresponding period for 2019.

Attendances to paediatric hospital emergency departments (EDs) by children seeking acute mental health care soared in the second half of last year during the Covid-19 pandemic.

That is according to new figures presented by medics who have warned in the new edition of the Irish Medical Journal (IMJ) that “long term stressors linked to the pandemic may be leading to chronic mental health problems”.