COVID Isolation Fueled NJ Kids' Anxiety; How Can It Be Addressed?

NEW JERSEY — Two years after schools shut down in New Jersey because of the coronavirus pandemic, David Seegert says the signs of the toll it has taken on kids are plain to see.

There are more students coming in to see the School Based Youth Services staff in local schools. There are more children and families seeking mental health support outside the schools.

Waiting lists are long, and are growing steadily.

“The need for mental health services is growing,” Seegert, the director of School Based Youth Services programs for Preferred Behavioral Health, which oversees the programs in three Brick Township schools and at Lakewood High School. “We are definitely seeing an increase in the number of kids seeking help.”

It’s a situation that has been seen statewide and nationally.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that data from emergency departments at hospitals around the country showed a sharp increase in the number of children ages 12-17 who were brought to the hospital with suspected suicide attempts in the winter of 2021.

In October 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics declared the state of child and adolescent mental health a national emergency, saying the pandemic had exacerbated what already was a crisis among children and teens that had been worsening since 2010.

“Rates of childhood mental health concerns and suicide rose steadily between 2010 and 2020 and by 2018 suicide was the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24,” the academy said. “The pandemic has intensified this crisis.”

On a state level, data from the New Jersey Children’s InterAgency Coordinating Council shows a nearly 70 percent increase in calls to the New Jersey Children’s System of Care from 4,038 in May 2020 to 6,856 in December 2021. The system addresses a variety of needs, with mental health being a key component. Psychiatric emergency services calls doubled from 16 in May 2020 to 32 in December 2021.

“We’re seeing a large number of kids with anxiety,” Seegert said, and he agreed that the pandemic fueled the struggles of students who already were stressed about the expectations of parents, teachers, classes, activities and their potential futures.

“The pressures are far greater than they were 20 years ago,” he said. “The competition amongst them to get jobs and get into college is relentless."

"It's an adult problem we've created," Seegert said. “The kids have policies and procedures for everything they do. They feel like they’re being micromanaged.”

“That creates that anxiety,” he said.

The increased anxiety is driven in large part by the isolation they have faced over the last two years, he said.

“We were already in a mental health crisis in this country and COVID was the tipping point,” Seegert said. “Being back in school, the social aspect has been challenging for many kids.”

Kids are having to relearn how to interact with each other and having to rebuild their social communities.

“They’ve lost time with friends, lost time preparing for college,” Seegert said. “Life was on hold and now they’re playing catch-up.”

Seegert said one of the challenges in trying to help students is having enough staff to meet the demand.

“There’s such a staffing shortage for mental health providers,” he said. “We cannot find people to do the job.” Providers also have walked away from the work, in part because of low compensation, he said.

It’s particularly problematic because of the number of teens who need more intensive services because they are struggling with suicidal ideation and self harm, Seegert sid.

“The demand (for mental health services) is so great that you can’t find enough spots,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a while before we catch up.”

The School Based Youth Services program is trying to reach students in need in a variety of ways, including after-school groups for kids who are facing similar issues. Those have seen increasing participation, he said.

The programs in the schools also have an open-door policy so kids can just drop in during the day if they need to destress or talk to friends to take their minds off the pressure they are facing.

The increasing willingness to take advantage of mental health services is one of the conundrums of COVID, Seegert said.

“COVID was positive because so many more people were using mental health services, but the demand is so great we can’t keep up,” he said.

Shedding the stigma of seeking help for mental health needs is critical to addressing the needs of youth in distress long-term, he said.

“What do we really need to do to solve the mental health crisis? It’s not a singular issue,” Seegert said, because there are so many factors, including biology, family dynamics, social environments and social media. “As providers we’re trying to look at the whole person.”

That requires people feeling safe enough to talk about what they are really feeling and struggling with, and that requires a shift in thinking.

“You think about cancer. For a very long time it was a stigmatized disease,” Seeger said, with people who feared cancer was contagious. “Once people started getting educated and building compassion around it, the stigma disappeared.”

“That’s where mental health is. We have to break that down,” he said.

The compensation has to be addressed as well, so that providers will be willing to stay in a profession that is critically needed, he said.

"We have to pay people a much better living wage to do this job, so there is staff retention," Seegert said.