Americans Seek Urgent Mental-Health Support as Covid-19 Crisis Ebbs

Hospital ERs across the country say they are overwhelmed by patients who didn’t receive psychiatric treatment through the pandemic

By Robbie Whelan of The WSJ. Excerpts: 

"Emergency visits for patients seeking help for overdoses and suicide attempts rose 36% and 26%, respectively, between mid-March and mid-October of last year, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in March. And U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveys have found that 38% of respondents reported symptoms of anxiety or depression between April of last year and February, up from about 11% in 2019."

"Emergency-room visits for mental-health crises among 12- to 17-year-olds increased 31% between 2019 and 2020, the CDC reported in June. Among the same group, emergency-room visits for suspected suicide attempts rose 22% last summer compared with the previous year, and 39% this past winter compared with the previous winter."