since january, seven of dr. jane liddle’s young patients have been admitted to cheo in the throes of severe mental health crises that left them suicidal and suffering from major depression as well as extreme anxiety.
the teens were hospitalized for their own, and others’, safety and stabilized. in a matter of weeks, they were back home, more stable, but still getting ongoing treatment for serious mental disorders.
to treat seven such patients in three months is unprecedented for liddle, an exponential rise compared to normal times.
but these are not normal times, especially not for children.
“kids are not doing well,” she said. “this is really taking its toll.”
liddle is among ottawa pediatricians — all member of the recently formed ottawa community pediatricians network — who are raising alarm bells about the high levels of mental and physical illness they are seeing among children as the pandemic continues into its second year.
with schools now online again since the latest stay-at-home-order, they are worried that the situation will worsen.
dr. kelley zwicker, who founded the ottawa community pediatricians network to enable pediatricians to work together to deal with the challenges of the pandemic, said closing schools might have been the right choice as far as the pandemic was concerned.