The Increasing Burden of Psychiatric Emergencies: A Call to Action.

Abstract

* Abbreviation: ED — : emergency department Kalb et al1’s article “Trends in Psychiatric Emergency Department Visits Among Youth and Young Adults in the US” is a crucial national perspective on the increasing burden of pediatric and young adult psychiatric emergencies, which has continued to rise above and beyond previous numbers reported in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.2,3 A national perspective is vital because most emergency care for children in this country occurs in emergency departments (EDs) with small pediatric volumes and limited pediatric resources.4 Kalb et al1’s work contributes additional information that adolescents and young adults, especially from multiracial populations or people of color, account for the most significant increase. With suicide as the second leading cause of death for youth in the age group of 10 to 19 years, EDs are a critical link to screening, risk identification, and care. Lack of access to mental health services, and the role of EDs as de facto mental health crisis settings, has led to the 2.5-fold increase in suicidal chief complaints. Compounding this is a significant increase in the proportion … Address correspondence to Thomas H. Chun, MD, MPH, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Claverick 246, 593 Eddy St, Providence, RI 02903. E-mail: thomas_chun{at}brown.edu