Coping & Surviving when your Child is Admitted to a Pediatric Psychiatry Unit

Having your child admitted to a mental health (code for psychiatry) in-patient unit is like nothing you could even imagine and I sincerely hope you never have to. This I say through gritted teeth while my heart completely rips in two pieces. You see parents are not allowed to stay, you can visit anytime before 9, but your baby will have to survive the nights without mom and dad. The very thing that would help my girl feel safe, seen and cared for.  

Although, having a sick child is nothing to be ashamed of, there still seems to be so much stigma around mental health. If your child has cancer, a heart problem or another body system affected, it's so much easier to reach out for support. In this case, there is also privacy for the child involved.  Do they want everyone to know?  It's time to break these stigmas. The children, adolescent and adults need our help and they are fighting these diseases alone. 

I always thought there was no way, my child would ever need to be stabilized in hospital. The first visit came after months of her feeling very distraught after school each day. Months of holding it together led to more months of falling apart.  The pandemic has destroyed our children's mental health and anyone that tells you otherwise has no clue what they are saying. The mental health units are overrun and overfilled. There are not enough beds, 13 for southern Alberta under the age of 12. The children are waiting in the emergency and being sent home because there aren't enough beds. This is an absolute crisis. Our babies are crying out for help. And there is no one listening, No one hears the cries of the most alone, vulnerable and desperate.