Colorado Kids Mental Health Crisis: A Children’s Hospital Town Hall on Addressing Anxiety, Depression, and Self-Harm

Children’s Hospital in Colorado Springs is hosting a virtual Mental Health Townhall on Tuesday night for parents to learn more about the current state of mental health in Colorado kids. The townhall aims to address mental health concerns before they escalate to the point of needing hospital-level care, after declaring a kids mental health state of emergency in 2021. Doctors at the hospital emphasize that kids’ mental health tends to worsen towards the end of the school year in April and May.

Dr. Ashley Hayduke, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Children’s Hospital, highlights that the youth mental health crisis began before the COVID-19 pandemic and has only intensified since then. They are seeing an increase in anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and risk of harm to oneself or others among children. In particular, Colorado adolescents aged 11 to 18 have experienced a doubling in their rate of poor mental health since 2018.

Children’s Colorado has served almost 10,000 mental health patients in its System of Care alone in 2023. Doctors have noticed physical symptoms connected to mental health, such as nausea or vomiting, increasing among patients. However, long treatment waitlists due to the high demand for services are resulting in delays in getting assistance. Dr. Hayduke stresses the importance of early identification of children struggling with anxiety and depression so they can start receiving treatment promptly. The sooner they can get help, the better their outcome will be in the long run.

The virtual Mental Health Townhall is open to all members of the public and will feature experts answering questions and providing stress management tips and resources from 6-7 p.m., Tuesday night (April 23rd). It is free and registration is required online for families who want to attend it together with their children or teenagers who may be struggling with their own mental health issues or those who want to learn more about how they can support others dealing with similar challenges.