New guidelines recommend screening every kid for Anxiety

Anxiety disorders constitute one of the most prevalent diagnostic categories in child psychiatry. Anguish and anxiety appear in the child in situations involving risk, danger or commitment, having a defensive function: therefore, it is a normal phenomenon that helps to alert the individual to possible dangers. For this reason, normal anguish must be distinguished from pathological anguish, taking into account the child’s age and maturational level, since many reactions that in adults would imply a certain diagnosis, in children are expressions of their evolutionary stage.

Mental health experts recommend screening for anxiety starting at age 8. American mental health experts recommend screening children 8 years and older for anxiety. They also stress the importance of screening for major depressive disorder and suicide risk in adolescents aged 12 to 18. That’s according to new draft guidelines developed by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), an independent group of prevention and primary care experts who develop reports for public health.

The need to update the guidelines, which you can consult by clicking on the following link, is intimately linked to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which has had a catastrophic impact on the mental health of adults and especially that of the little ones, as multiple studies reveal. The confinement, fear of contagion, interruption of recreational and sports activities, denial of socialization, distance education, economic problems and family bereavement caused by the virus – which to date has officially killed nearly 6.2 million people – literally eroded psychological well-being, as highlighted by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is no coincidence that mental health experts had pointed out from the start of the pandemic that one of the highest prices to pay for the virus would be a significant increase in stress, anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD). Conditions that are worsening at the moment also because of the war in Ukraine.

Data shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has literally taken a toll on children’s mental health. In fact, while a survey by The National Survey of Children’s Health reported that approximately 8% of American children suffered from anxiety disorders before the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the study “Mental Health, Suicidality, and Connectedness Among High School Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Adolescent Behaviours and Experiences Survey, United States, January – June 2021” released this month by the CDC found that 37% of school-aged children have experienced mental health issues since March 2020.

This crisis of worsening mental health in children and adolescents is inextricably linked to the stress caused by COVID-19,” the authors of the new paper wrote. “We need to identify strategies to address these challenges and improve access and quality of care across the continuum of mental health promotion, prevention and treatment,” the experts added. Thanks to these screenings, in fact, it is possible to quickly identify anxiety disorders and other psychological problems and remedy them. The lack of treatment can indeed have a significant impact on developmental delay, physical and behavioral problems, poor school performance, substance abuse and other risky conditions, a huge burden on the future of children.