Hospital Emergency Departments Bearing Brunt Of Youth Mental Health Crisis

Dr. Joeli Hettler is chief of pediatric emergency at Baystate Medical Center. Her department currently has a record number of children and teens awaiting inpatient placement for mental and behavioral health issues. (Ben James/NEPM)

For Dr. Joeli Hettler, the symptoms kids are showing up with in her emergency room are not only extreme — they’re confusing.

“I have never seen so many kids come in with unusual complaints, like a body part that won’t stop shaking, or a body part that they can no longer move,” said Hettler, chief of pediatric emergency at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Other odd symptoms include children who’ve stopped talking, unexplained bellyaches and headaches, and sleep problems of all sorts.

“And after a careful history and physical exam,” Hettler said, “it’s pretty clear that their bodies are OK, but they’re suffering because of emotional things happening in their lives.”

The causes are numerous: stress, social deprivation, a loss of relationships to coaches and teachers, a profound rupture in routine.

Read the rest of the story at NEPM’s website.