Here’s why mental health-related hospitalizations are declining in young Canadians

An exam room is seen at a health clinic in Calgary, Friday, July 14, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

The way Canadian youth access care for mental health disorders has changed from pre-pandemic years.

According to a new report from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) released today, more young Canadians are being prescribed medications and visiting the doctor’s office to treat their disorders, while fewer patients are ending up in hospitals and emergency departments.

The report analyzes trends in children and youth ages five to 24 and compares patterns from 2023 and 2018.

In 2023, emergency department visits dropped 31 per cent compared to 2018. The number of hospitalizations declined by 23 per cent.

Liudmila Husak, manager for health system analytics at CIHI, said the team was surprised by the numbers.

“Prior to 2018/19, we’ve reported continuous increases in hospitalizations and emergency department visits for children and youth with mental health disorders. And, this time, for the first time, I guess, we saw some different trends,” Husak said.

Visits to family doctors, pediatricians and psychiatrists went up eight per cent. The increase could be a result of family physicians changing their practicing patterns and “increasingly providing care for complex conditions outside of typical primary care services,” the report stated.

Medication prescriptions also increased. Prescriptions for mood and anxiety disorders increased 18 per cent, and the number of prescriptions for antipsychotics went up 13 per cent.

“While there are shifts in where children and youth receive care for mental health disorders, there is no evidence to suggest that their mental health has improved since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report read.

Data from Statistics Canada suggests that about 1 in 5 youth who felt that their mental health was good or better in 2019 no longer felt that way in 2023. Girls were more likely than boys to report declines in their mental health.

Females ages 15 to 17 are the most affected, according to Husak.

“By talking with experts, we know that complexity and severity of cases is not decreasing,” she said.

“Children and youth are still quite sick when they come seeking care, be it in the emergency departments or in the community settings. It just seems the system is now better equipped to provide services and perhaps to recognize the conditions earlier.”

While significant investments in mental health care have been made in recent years, Husak said the new data highlights areas where more funding is needed.