NEWSWIRE: 3/12/21
- According to a new Harvard report, 18- to 25-year-olds are far more likely than older age groups to say that they’ve experienced “serious loneliness” over the past month (61%). These findings come amid reports of increasing mental illness and suicidal ideation among young people. (Harvard Graduate School of Education)
- NH: This Harvard survey comes after months of reports on the toll the pandemic has taken on Americans’ mental health. (See “Americans Continue to Struggle with Their Mental Health” and “Distress Levels Skyrocket During Pandemic.”) Again, we see young people reporting the highest levels of emotional distress--in this case, "serious loneliness." While 36% of Americans reported feeling lonely at least “frequently” over the past month, that share was significantly higher (61%) among 18- to 25-year-olds. Among 55- to 65-year-olds, it was just 24%.
- Meanwhile, we're learning about new evidence of young people making increased use of mental health services. The nonprofit FAIR Health analyzed U.S. private health insurance claims from January to November of 2020 and compared the results to the same months in 2019. Researchers recorded the change in the number of pediatric mental health claims as a share of all medical claims. They looked at two groups of young people: those ages 13-18 and those ages 19-22.
- They found that among both groups claims soared for a range of psychological conditions, including major depression, anxiety, self-harm, substance abuse, OCD, and adjustment disorder. In March and April of 2020, mental health claims for the 13-18 group increased 97% and 104%, respectively, as a share of all claims compared to a year before. During those months, the number of overall medical claims fell 53% in both months.
- Here is YoY monthly growth by type of condition.
- These findings track with those of a recent CDC report, which found that through most of 2020 the proportion of pediatric ER admissions for mental health diagnoses jumped 24% for young children and 31% for teens compared to the previous year.
- The FAIR Health report also noted a massive shift in how mental health care is provided. Prior to the pandemic, telehealth accounted for only 1.6% of pediatric mental health care visits, but by November 2020, that share had surged to 69.5%. Unlike other areas of health care, remote mental health services are likely to continue to grow after the pandemic is over due to a shortage of in-person services and the stigma associated with seeking such care. As Hedgeye's own Health Care sector has pointed out, telehealth providers like Ontrak (OTRK), Teladoc Health (TDOC), and Sanvello (which is explicitly aimed at teens) are benefitting bigtime from this trend. (See my own background remarks in "Telemedicine Is Here to Stay.")
- But until the availability of care expands, we’re faced with the reality of struggling young people who haven’t been able to see their friends, hang out at school, and experience the normal life milestones for their age. Adolescence is hard enough. Now we’re seeing what happens when you add the anxiety of a pandemic and a regimen of seemingly endless isolation on top of it.
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