The Children's Mental Health Crisis Didn't Start With The Pandemic
Consider This from NPR
NPR
4.2 • 6.2K Ratings
🗓️ 14 May 2022
⏱️ 12 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The pandemic focused attention on this issue as young people dealt with isolation, the uncertainty of lockdown and grief over the death of loved ones. But while the pandemic exacerbated the problem, it has been building for years.
We speak with Judith Warner, a journalist and author, to find out how we got to this point, and what can be done to help kids now. Warner's most recent piece, "We Have Essentially Turned a Blind Eye to Our Own Children for Decades," appears in The Washington Post Magazine.
This episode deals with suicide. If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting "HOME" to 741741.
In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment to help you make sense of what's going on in your community.
Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | As someone who struggled with depression, suicidal ideation, eating disorder behavior and anxiety throughout middle and early high school, |
| 0:06.7 | I, for the longest time, believe that no one can relate to my experiences. |
| 0:11.1 | That's Trace Terrell, he's 17. |
| 0:13.6 | Speaking at a congressional hearing on children's mental health earlier this year, |
| 0:17.8 | he talked about how his own struggles led him to volunteer at Youthline, a crisis help line where teens offer support to their peers. |
| 0:25.5 | As I became more involved, I realized that my challenges were a microcosm, a public health issue that affected hundreds of thousands of teens across the country. |
| 0:34.2 | Terrell read examples of texts he responds to as an intervention and outreach specialist. |
| 0:39.6 | 407 PM. I just need someone to talk to. |
| 0:43.9 | 437 PM. My dad hit me, but you can't call the cops. |
| 0:49.4 | 523 PM. I need therapy, but my family can't afford it. |
| 0:54.3 | 642 PM. I want to kill myself. |
| 1:02.0 | We've seen elevated levels of stress, anxiety, different behavioral issues in students. |
| 1:10.9 | Bob Mulaney is the superintendent of Millus Public Schools in Massachusetts. |
| 1:15.1 | We've seen an increase in suicidal ideation, more suicide attempts, |
| 1:20.3 | things that the school itself is really not equipped to handle. |
| 1:26.2 | Heidi Basquefield is vice president of Population Health and Advocacy at Children's Hospital, Colorado. |
| 1:32.2 | Children experiencing the kind of distress that Bob Mulaney described often end up in her emergency room. |
| 1:38.4 | On any given day in our emergency departments, there are between 15 and 40 children with mental health needs seeking care. |
| 1:47.4 | Basquefield's hospital like other mental health facilities across the country is overwhelmed by the rising need for mental health services. |
| 1:54.1 | We are consistently full with all of our mental health units. |
| 1:58.8 | Our outpatient visits went from a three-week weight to sometimes upwards of nine months. |
| 2:05.2 | And if you can imagine being a parent with a child who has mental health needs, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.