ROANOKE, Va. – Thursday is National Depression Screening Day, and doctors at Carilion said it can take about eight to 12 weeks for kids to see a psychiatrist.
“Kids as you can imagine have depression just as frequently as older people or young adults and it can look differently, but they have it,” said Psychiatrist Dr. Anita Kablinger with Carilion Mental Health.
Kablinger said the waitlist numbers at Carilion are like those of the rest of the nation.
She said there are several challenges, such as having psychiatrists available when kids are not in school. Also, if someone needs specific help, it can take longer.
“Even if you could see younger people for help like depression or other illnesses, it could take even longer if you’re talking about some type of specialty, so for example, depressed young people can have eating disorder issues they can have obsessive-compulsive disorder, autism. Those require even more specialized services. So, that can also delay the availability to get to people,” said Kablinger.
While the waitlist is long, Kablinger said the waitlist at Carilion has decreased over the last two years. She said one reason is they increased the access to care.
“Certainly, increased the number of providers, and that includes providers, and that includes physicians social workers, nurse practitioners licensed therapists all of that has improved because of more people we are working around times whether to stay open later or earlier so people have more access,” said Kablinger.
She also said there is group therapy, which can often help people sooner than individual therapy.
Kablinger said they mostly see school-age children and there could be several reasons why from losing a parent to even bullying. She said the trends don’t change often.
“This can be affiliated with a lot of things. So, part of it can be genetic or biological, but there are a lot of psychological or environmental factors such as bullying, loss of family parent, loss of things. If we were talking about the storm, for example, that would be a huge change,” said Kablinger.
She said parents should watch out for several things such as if kids are having trouble at school or relationships. She said there are certain behaviors to look out for too like if a kid is outgoing and talkative, but they start isolating themselves, or vice versa. Also, changes in sleep, eating, poor concentration, and difficulty making decisions that are important things to pay attention to with your child.
While you’re waiting to get help for your kid, there are several resources available.
Kablinger said your child’s primary care doctor or pediatrician can help because they can sometimes prescribe medications for mental health illnesses like depression and anxiety. She also suggested eating healthy and exercising.
There are several schools in Southwest Virginia that provide counseling for its students.
For instance, Lexington has school counselors and clinical treatment therapy. There are also licensed clinicians in every Montgomery County School, Roanoke City offers virtual mental healthcare, and Rockbridge County offers individual and group counseling. Martinsville City Public Schools has school counselors, a full-time social worker and a school psychologist. It also partners with counseling to provide services for kids while they are in school.
Centra also stated that their average lead time to new patient appointments for our 4 Child & Adolescent Outpatient Psychiatrists is 23 days, which is an improvement from the average of 45 days at this same time last year. Although those are the average numbers, Centra Health said it’s possible for them to find access for new Child & Adolescent Psychiatry patients on the same day, next day, same week, or next week, especially in more urgent cases.
There is also the Carilion Clinic’s Connect line, a 24-hour number someone can call for emergency psychiatric evaluations and referrals.
Centra’s Child & Adolescent Psychiatrists all participate in the Virginia Mental Health Access Program, which can assist those who are in need at getting therapy and care navigation at no cost. You can find more information on VMAP here.
Finally, if you or someone you know needs help, there is the National Crisis Lifeline at 988.