Calling on All Child and Family Practitioners to Help Mitigate the Impacts of the Poor Behavioural Health of Children with Psychiatric Illness

Abstract

Adolescents and children (aged 6 to 17+ years) admitted to inpatient psychiatry or intensive out-of-home mental health programs (formerly called residential mental health treatment centres) are among those with the most severe psychiatric illnesses. Moreover, these children also have very poor behavioural and biopsychosocial health including sleep deprivation, difficult relationships, problematic use of electronic devices, academic difficulty, poor school engagement, insufficient exercise and poor diets; all of these were noted before the pandemic. The pandemic has only increased the social isolation, poor health behaviours and mental health challenges for many children and adolescents. The poor behavioural and psychosocial health of those in their youth with psychiatric illnesses can exacerbate symptoms and can interfere with academic performance, development and good decision making; these biopsychosocial health behaviours are modifiable. All child and family practitioners including pediatricians, family physicians, nurses, social workers, psychologists and psychotherapists have an important role in fostering the behavioural and biopsychosocial health (i.e., sleep, positive relationships, electronic device use, exercise and diet) of all family members and especially children with psychiatric illness. Enacting biopsychosocial lifestyle interventions before or during childhood and adolescence may reduce the burden of mental illness.