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In addition to all the other problems it has caused, the covid-19 pandemic has given rise to mental health issues for 11- to- 17-year-olds.
The disruption of in-person classes, as well as extracurricular and social activities, has left a significant number of young people depressed and worried about their futures.
On Wednesday, March 10, at 5 p.m., the public media initiative to address critical health issues is collaborating with WQED-TV, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and several Pittsburgh area school districts to provide a live virtual discussion about the state of youth mental health.
There is a new pandemic spreading across the U.S., but this one isn’t fueled by microscopic infectious parasites.
It is the result of the emotional overload tied to a once-in-a-lifetime convergence of a worldwide health crisis on top of social, economic, racial and political unrest that has exhausted American psyches, mental health experts say.
“We have uncertainty to the max,” Temple University psychologist Frank Farley said. “We’ve had a sort of piling on of stressors, which I have never seen in my lifetime. No break and restrictions on our response because of COVID.”
The “psychological pandemic,” as Farley calls it, has resulted in unprecedented demands and needs for mental health resources, support and services.
Bucks County officials are targeting the much anticipated start of their mental health court before the end of the year, but a critical component of it could be operating as soon as this summer.
Commissioners Chairwoman Diane Ellis-Marseglia confirmed a plan is being developed to open a new forensic diversion and treatment center that would provide services to individuals referred by the courts.
Bucks is the only county in the Philadelphia region that does not have a mental health court, which helps people with persistent uncontrolled serious mental illness avoid the criminal justice system, which is not equipped to handle their complex needs.