2023-02-26 from cbc.ca

When 16-year-old Abbey Keays thinks back to the early days of the pandemic — the lockdowns and online schooling — she can't help but reflect on what she and other teens have lost.

"During the pandemic, I personally felt a lot of negative emotions and some issues with my mental health," she said in an interview from her home in Hamilton, Ont.

"I think it's because we lost so much of what we were hoping our life to be."

Three years later, even as the pandemic wanes, Keays said she sees a lot of teens still struggling. 

Clinicians say their needs continue to outweigh the services available to help.

"If you look at the different studies done since COVID-19, there has been a crisis — a mental health crisis — impacting children and youth," said Dr. Stacey Bélanger, an expert in pediatric mental health at Sainte-Justine Hospital in Montreal.

Bélanger, who is on the Canadian Pediatric Society's mental health task force, said pediatric centres have seen increases in hospitalizations and emergency room visits for mental health conditions such as eating disorders, anxiety and suicide attempts since the pandemic began. 

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