Since November, Sabrina has taken her 12-year-old son to the emergency department at the Stollery Children’s Hospital at least six times for a mental health breakdown.
“He has attacked my children on numerous occasions. We’ve had the police out for it. It’s very isolating and it’s very scary,” she said.
Sabrina’s son has been struggling with mental health for most of his life. He’s been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), disruptive mood dysregulation disorder (DMDD), Tourette syndrome and depression.
Sabrina said episodes of rage and self-harm have escalated in the last few months and have become nearly a daily occurrence.
“He will hurt himself. He will destroy my property. He will punch holes in walls,” the mother said.
Global News has spoken with a handful of Edmonton-area families concerned about their children’s access to mental health services. Due to the sensitive nature of their stories and the involvement of children, we have chosen not to reveal the identities of the families involved, so pseudonyms are used instead.
Shelly’s story is very similar to Sabrina’s. Her son has been diagnosed with ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and frontal lobe development delay. She said her 12-year-old son’s violent episodes have increased since the end of February.
“I could ask him to do something very simple like a chore that he has to do every day and that can spark a complete violent episode, where he’s breaking things,” Shelly said.
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The only emergency department in Edmonton equipped to deal with children in a mental health crisis is the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Psychiatrists aren’t on staff overnight, but Alberta Health Services (AHS) said they can be called for help if necessary.
Both women in this story have taken their sons to the emergency department numerous times over the past few months. They typically are in the ER for between three and eight hours at a time, and both describe the process as a revolving door.
“They put him in a room, let him sleep it off, talk to a couple people and send him home,” Shelly said.
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“It’s just the same thing over and over again and we just keep getting the same results,” Sabrina said.
Both mothers want long-term help for their sons, but neither feel they know where to turn. They want their sons hospitalized to receive help and to protect the safety of the rest of their family.
“The hardest thing is he can’t come home anymore because if he comes home, I’m putting my other kids at risk because he’s violent. He’s not trying to be violent. That’s just the way his brain is working,” Shelly said.
“There’s no preventative measures taken. Everything is worst case scenario, then we’ll help. We have so many people within the system that care, but it is broken because no one is mandated to help.”
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They both said navigating the system has been a lengthy and confusing process.
“Everyone is pointing fingers at everyone else. There’s no piece of paper that says, ‘OK because your son has this, or because your child is going through this, this is what we’re going to do,'” Shelly said.
AHS said help is available but acknowledges the system has problems.
“I think we often don’t behave as a very well coordinated and easy-to-navigate system,” said Mark Snaterse, AHS executive director of addiction and mental health for the Edmonton zone.
“I think those are our biggest opportunities for improvement.”
A child suicide prevention strategy is underway in Alberta, but the provincial government has released few details of what will be included or when it will be introduced.
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“For a family who’s in crisis, any delay is really challenging,” Associate Minister of Health Brandy Payne said. “Parents are worried for their children’s safety and their children’s well-being.
“For children who are in crisis, that’s a really tough time. So we need to make sure those supports are available as quickly as possible.”
Watch: Children in Crisis Part 3 – Parents begging for help say they can’t get crucial supports for children battling mental illness and suicidal actions. Alberta wants to make navigating the system easier. Quinn Ohler reports.
According to the latest data provided by AHS, kids that are in emergent need of mental health services are seen by a professional within 24 hours and kids that are in urgent need will be seen within 14 days.
Children with “non-urgent referrals” are expected to be seen within 30 days. However, that benchmark is only being met 55 per cent of the time.
“We’re always trying to improve,” Snaterse said.
Snaterse said AHS is working to recruit more child psychiatrists. Currently in Edmonton there are 38, but Snaterse wouldn’t specify how many are needed to cover demand.
Sabrina and Shelly said their worst fears are that improvements to the system aren’t made before it’s too late.
“Every time we end up in emergency, I say it over and over to the staff: ‘We’re going to go home and the next time we come back it might be because he’s either hurt himself too much or we’re not going to end up coming back cause my son would have been the statistic of killing himself,” Shelly said.
If your child or someone you know is in need of help, click here for access to resources.
WATCH: A rash of suicides in a southern Ontario city in 2016 had many Canadians wondering if we’re doing enough to help address the mental health of kids and teens. On Tuesday, hundreds of students walked out of their classrooms in Woodstock to demand action. Laurel Gregory has more.
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