Report: California Kids Suffer Sharp Rise in Anxiety, Depression

California kids experienced the second-largest increase in depression and anxiety among U.S. states from 2016 to 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in lockdown orders and school closures, a national child welfare advocacy group reported.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2022 Kids Count Data Book analyzing how children and families are faring nationally found that California ranked 33rd overall among the states in child well-being, the same as in last year’s 2021 report.

This year’s report for the first time included 50-state data on mental health among kids ages 3 to 17. It found a 26% increase nationally in anxiety and depression through the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, creating what the U.S. surgeon general has called a “mental health pandemic.”

But in California, anxiety and depression among kids rose nearly three times as much — 70% — from 7% in 2016 to 11.9% in 2020, the report said. Only South Dakota saw a bigger jump, from 7% to 14.2%, or 102.9% during those years.

“Not only are we seeing a significant increase in the need for mental health services, but California’s kids are also facing too many barriers accessing these critical services,” said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, California’s member of the Kids Count network.

He said 65% of California youth with major depression do not receive any mental health treatment due to lack of access to services.

“The state must treat this issue like the emergency it is, and increase children’s access to mental health services now,” said Lempert, who was a California State Assembly member representing San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties from 1996 to 2000 and 1988 to 1992.

The foundation’s Data Book presents national and state data each year for economic well-being, education, health, and family and community factors, and ranks the states according to how children are faring overall. This year’s report reflects a mix of pre-pandemic and more recent figures and are the latest available, the foundation said.

By comparison with other big states, New York ranked 29th, down from 27th in 2021, Texas 45th, up a notch from 46th last year, and Florida held at 35th.

California was the first state to issue a statewide stay-home order as the pandemic took hold in March 2020 and kept schools closed with online “distance learning” as a substitute and requirements to wear face masks on campus longer than most other states.

Susan Stenman, a Los Gatos mother of three, said she saw the harm to her own kids, especially her youngest, now a high school senior, and heard similar tales from friends and neighbors. Her son suffered from isolation, and his grades fell from online-only learning, hurting his self esteem.

“My youngest son tries to keep his cards close to his chest but I can see it in his face,” Stenman said. “I think that a lot of kids are feeling this. Everybody I’ve talked to says the same thing, our kids were so isolated. I’ve actually had multiple conversations with friends who have told me about their daughters or their daughters’ friends — eating disorders, hospitalized and they’re on medicine, very serious issues. It’s been hard to watch.”

Excerpted from “Report: California Kids Suffer Sharp Rise in Anxiety, Depression” in the San Jose Mercury News. Read the full article online.

Source: San Jose Mercury News | Report: California Kids Suffer Sharp Rise in Anxiety, Depression, https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/08/08/report-california-kids-suffer-sharp-rise-in-anxiety-depression | Copyright © 2022 MediaNews Group

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