[The evolution of child psychiatry emergencies: Results and reflections from a Nancy University Hospital study].

CONCLUSIONS: In France, as well as in other western countries, the number of visits in pediatric emergency departments for mental health reasons more than doubled over a 10-year span. This growth mostly concerned externalizing disorders as a motive for consultation. Causes for this increase are multifactorial and closely related to the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children. Some studies showed that economic factors played a major role on mental illness during such a downturn as the financial crisis of 2007-2008. Unemployment caused by economic crises can weaken pediatric caregivers and therefore their patients. Evolution of family structure and value also explains this trend. These past decades, the two-parent model, relevant till the 1960s, has evolved to a point where single parents are more quickly overwhelmed. Family values are now focused on consensus rather than duty and hedonism has become a central value. Women are more involved in the working world which became for all a performance field. Several studies have shown that social settings where competitiveness is the norm breed externalized disorders in children by advocating short-term efficiency. Moreover, the widespread use of screens in households as well as early exposure impact the psychomotor development, decrease the amount of sleep and may be responsible for the occurrence of many psychiatric disorders. There are some epidemiological reasons too. In 1971, Omran introduced a concept called "epidemiolo...
Source: L Encephale - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Encephale Source Type: research