Harriet Hiscock,a pediatrician and professor at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute,said there was a pre-existing,long-term trend of a rise in mental health issues and disorders among children,but the pandemic had exacerbated it.
She saidan analysis of emergency hospital presentations of children from 2008 to 2015 showed mental health presentations increased at three times the rate of physical health ones.
Hiscock said there was currently no regular state,territory or national surveys on children’s mental health. Her institution is pushing for this data to be regularly collected,which she said could occur alongside the NAPLAN tests,an annual literacy and numeracy assessment of students in years 3,5,7 and 9.
“It’s a big gap in our knowledge.”
She said they had seen a rise in children presenting with various types of anxiety related to Autism and ADHD,often resulting in children refusing to go to school.
Diagnosing an 18-month-old was “tricky”,she said. Non-verbal toddlers are usually monitored in kindergarten and at home by multiple professionals.
Anxiety in infants and toddlers may manifest in the inability to relax or resettle easily,excessive crying,issues with sleeping and excessive clinginess.
A 2020 Queensland report into the impacts of COVID-19 on children found one in four experienced “higher than average” levels of anxiety and up to 12 per cent of those who went through a second lockdown experienced “very high” rates of mental health difficulties.
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Jim Mullan,chief executive of autism peak body AMAZE,saidNDIS data showed annual increases in autism diagnoses and that early intervention was critical.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ survey of disability,ageing and carers,there has been an increasing trend of autism over time,from 0.3 per cent in 2009 to 0.5 per cent in 2012 and 0.7 per cent in 2015.
Mullan said the reasons behind the increase in neurodevelopmental disorders were not particularly well understood or researched. He said general awareness had increased and there had been more acceptance across communities,“frankly we have a better-informed population than we ever have in history”.
Mullan said staff should be upskilled and professionals employed in preschools and kindergartens to help recognise early signs of mental health issues and disorders in children.
“The sooner that everyone in a child’s network can have the access to support that child,the greater the outcomes you’ll begin to see in kinder,school,general education and employment,” he said.
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Kate Crosher,an educational and developmental psychologist,said long waiting lists and shortages of psychologists made it difficult to get help.
“When the issues the kids are presenting with are too complex for management in the school’s system,and we can’t get them into the public health system,where do these young people go?” she asked.
Hiscock said the Murdoch Institute was trying to tackle psychologist shortages through aprogram that upskills healthcare professionals such as doctors and social workers with strategies from a child psychiatrist.
“It’s an attempt to meet the needs because we don’t have enough psychologists,” she said. “I think we need to talk about solutions,not just problems.”
A spokesperson for the federal Department of Education said it had committed $203.7 million to the Student Wellbeing Boost,which helps students counter the impact of the pandemic on mental health.
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
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