Fear, grief, uncertainty and isolation during the pandemic have triggered a national state of emergency in the mental health of America’s youth, leading child health care groups warned Tuesday.

Youngsters already faced significant mental health challenges, and the pandemic has made them worse, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA). Together, they represent more than 77,000 physicians and more than 200 children’s hospitals.

“Children’s mental health is suffering. Young people have endured so much throughout this pandemic and while much of the attention is often placed on its physical health consequences, we cannot overlook the escalating mental health crisis facing our patients,” AAP President Dr. Lee Savio Beers said in a news release from the three groups.

“Today’s declaration is an urgent call to policymakers at all levels of government ⁠— we must treat this mental health crisis like the emergency it is,” Savio Beers urged.... Read More: Newsmax