US lawmakers want more research on the mental health toll of the coronavirus pandemic

US lawmakers want more research on the mental health toll of the coronavirus pandemic

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Democratic Senators Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Tim Kaine of Virginia told CNN exclusively that they plan to present the Covid-19 Mental Health Research Act on Tuesday afternoon. The legislation would direct $ 100 million annually for five years to the National Institute of Mental Health to fund research on the consequences of the pandemic on mental health.

Meanwhile, Democratic Representative Paul Tonko and Republican Representative John Katko, both from New York, will present the version of the legislation to the House, according to Klobuchar’s office.

“Health care professionals led our communities during this crisis, with many experiencing severe stress and anxiety,” Klobuchar said in a statement to CNN.

“Children, teenagers and the elderly have also been impacted in a unique way. To understand how we can best support them – and all Americans – in this difficult time, we must assess the scope of this mental health crisis and take steps to promote recovery and healing. “, she said.

The proposed bill would provide support for research that examines the number of pandemic victims in mental health, especially for health professionals. Other funding would support the response to post-pandemic mental health and suicide prevention.

“This bipartisan and bicameral bill will fund research aimed at strengthening our country’s mental health response and examining the number of victims of this pandemic among frontline health professionals,” said Katko in a statement. “The project will also provide crucial funding for suicide prevention research and will assess the long-term impacts of COVID-19 stressors on mental health.”

Once presented, lawmakers will wait to see how their legislative proposals will be received in the House and Senate.

The pandemic hit a teenager's school and his beloved football game. He took his own life.

Tonko said the focus on mental health will be part of “rebuilding America” ​​after the pandemic, especially for medical professionals and emergency responders.

“Every day they come to work, they risk exposure to this deadly virus and they carry an unimaginable emotional burden on us, all to keep our families and communities safe. We need to do more to support them and make sure we work for them. even understand the hidden costs they are bearing, “he said, adding that he urged his colleagues in the House and Senate to take the legislation forward.

Associated legislation, the Mental Health and Coronavirus Addiction Act, was presented earlier this year to the House and Senate that would grant subsidies to places that offer mental health and addiction services, as well as authorize $ 100 million to start or expand such programs.
Pandemic demand for mental health care is crushing providers
A study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry in February, found that visits to the mental health emergency department, suicide attempts, overdoses, intimate partner violence and suspected child abuse were generally greater during last year’s pandemic than during the same period last year.

The study, by researchers at the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, analyzed the number of visits to the emergency department from December 30, 2018 to October 10, 2020, comparing the weeks corresponding each year.

There were almost 190 million visits to the emergency department during the entire study period, and more than 6 million involved mental health, substance abuse or domestic violence. The researchers found that emergency department visits related to mental health conditions, suicide attempts, drug and opioid overdoses and suspected child abuse and neglect were significantly greater from mid-March to October 2020 compared to the same period. in 2019,

Unique challenges for children

Youth suicides in general increased before the pandemic and it is too early to link an increase in deaths directly to school closings, Katrina Rufino, associate professor of psychology at the University of Houston, told CNN in January.

Nationally, the proportion of mental health-related emergency care doubled between April and October for children aged 5 to 11 and tripled for children aged 12 to 17, compared to the same period in 2019, according to the CDC.

Rufino is co-author of a study that found that there has been a significant increase in the number of visits to the emergency department of a Houston children’s hospital related to mental health since the coronavirus hit the United States.

In Houston, the rise in teenagers with suicidal thoughts and self-harm coincided with pandemic closures, including school closures, Rufino and his colleagues wrote in the article published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

“Our analysis found that there were significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation in March and July 2020 – that’s when you really saw the effects here in Houston,” said Rufino of the study, which examined emergency room admission at Texas Children’s Hospital for young people aged 11 to 21.

“March was when things started to hit, things started to close. Here in Houston, we closed the rodeo, schools came home after spring break. And then July is when we really start to see our raise here in Houston. “

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