Young people waiting a year for mental health care: report

Overloaded system desperately needs resources, authors say

Hundreds of Ottawa-area young people are waiting a year or more to access mental health treatment from an overloaded system that is in desperate need of more resources, according to a report from the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario and the Royal Mental Health Centre.

In the year that ended April 1, CHEO’s mental health emergency department saw 2,900 patients — the highest number of pediatric mental health hospital visits in Ontario.

Since 2009, the number of children and youth seeking CHEO’s help for mental illness has leaped 64 per cent.

Especially critical, say mental health professionals, are the wait lists and wait times: As of April 1 this year, there were 910 children and youth waiting for mental health outpatient and outreach services from CHEO, up from 760 last year; the Royal’s waiting list had 172 youth, up from 149 a year ago.

Although high-risk emergency cases are dealt with quickly, expected wait times for outpatient services at CHEO are now between eight and 10 months and between 12 and 14 months at the Royal.

“It’s the human toll that it takes,” CHEO president and CEO Alex Munter said Thursday. “We can do better for these young people. Six to 12 months to see a psychiatrist for a youth and family in crisis is just too long.

“It’s an entire school year. For a youth to be able to learn and develop, and to have a successful school year, is very, very hard,” Munter said.

Royal CEO George Weber agrees.

“More money needs to be put into addressing the gap between supply and demand,” said Weber who — like Munter — says he has been attempting to cope with demand by shuffling internal resources and partnering with various community agencies.

Bridges, a program launched by CHEO, the Royal, Ottawa Public Health and the Youth Services Bureau (YSB), is three months old and currently providing treatment for 27 patients under 18 years old who have recently been released from hospital and who otherwise would be back on a waiting list.

Thursday’s report is the second annual evaluation of area mental health services for children and youth and overall paints a bleak picture of an overloaded system.

“The number of parents, kids and youth now willing to step forward and ask for help for mental health continues to grow,” Munter said. “This makes it even more urgent to provide the early intervention and treatment that can change young people’s lives forever.

Since 2009, the number of patients admitted to CHEO because of suicide risk has risen 33 per cent and the number with some self-injury has increased 61 per cent. The number of patients with “moderate to severe” substance abuse issues has risen 17 per cent over the past year.

Community campaigns such as Do It For Daron (in memory of Daron Richardson, who committed suicide at 14), the Daniel Alfredsson-backed You Know Who I Am campaign, and several parents who decided to speak publicly about the suicides of their children, have all contributed to a greater awareness and a greater willingness to seek help, says the report.

‘Mental health services are not as accessible as they need to be. We need more accessibility in communities.’ karen cohen Chair of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health

“When people come forward looking for help, you have to provide it,” said Karen Cohen, chair of the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health. “Mental health services are not as accessible as they need to be. We need more accessibility in communities.”

The problem is exacerbated because public health insurance plans don’t cover treatment by psychologists, Cohen added.

“When folks have extended health care plans through employment,” she said, “very often the limits aren’t enough to get you a meaningful amount of service. With cuts and pressures, people are driven to the community and in the community those services aren’t covered.

Mental health issues untreated take a huge toll on families, economies and the health care systems.”

In an email to the Citizen, provincial Health and LongTerm Care Minister Deb Matthews agreed that the report’s numbers are “troubling and point to a growing recognition and awareness of the toll it can take on our youth. If we can identify mental health issues early on, we can address them and prevent greater problems later in life.”

The good news, said Munter, is that attitudes toward mental illness are changing.

“The stigma around mental health is starting to recede and the culture is changing,” said Munter. “The public is much more open to frank conversation about mental illness and mental wellness. There is no evidence that the incidence of anxiety, depression and other mental illness is going up, but all indications are that where people once suffered for many years in silence they are now seeking help.

“At the root of all this, we are tossing away centuries of prejudice and stigma and gradually moving toward equating mental and physical health. Fundamentally, it’s a good thing but it underscores the urgency of making sure help is there when people need it.”