More Teenage Girls With Eating Disorders Wound Up in the E.R. During the Pandemic

According to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, emergency rooms across the country reported an increase in visits from teenage girls dealing with eating and other disorders, including anxiety, depression and stress.

The report provides new information about mental health issues affecting adolescents.

Mental health experts theorize that the Pandemic caused some youth to feel isolated, lonely and out of control. Emily Pluhar, a child psychologist at Boston Children's Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, said that some people coped by trying to control their behavior.

She said that the eating disorders are out of control.

The proportion of eating disorder visits doubled among teenage girls, the agency said, due to the lack of structure in daily routine, emotional distress and changes in food availability.

The agency said that the increase in tic disorders was atypical and more common in boys. Some teenage girls may be developing tics after seeing the phenomenon spread on social media, according to the C.D.C.

Increased visits with tics and tic-like behavior among adolescent females may be associated with increased stress of the Pandemic or exposure to severe tics, highlighted on social media platforms.

The C.D.C. said on Friday that there was an increase in mental health visits as emergency rooms reported a decline in visits. Overall visits fell by 51 percent in 2020 and 22 percent in 2021, the agency said, attributed in part to families delaying care and a drop in physical injuries from activities like swimming and running.

There was a decline in emergency room visits for mental health conditions among youths. There were increases for particular maladies and teenage girls.

The surge in adolescent mental health distress appears to have intensified during the Pandemic, but it began earlier. According to a report by the surgeon general, the number of emergency room visits by youths related to depression, anxiety and similar issues rose by 28 percent.

According to the C.D.C., mental health-related emergency room visits for teenage boys fell in both 2020 and 2021. The C.D.C. reported that the data was nuanced and that it depended on mental health condition and time period.

Sex differences might represent differences in need, recognition and health care-seeking behavior.

For teenage girls, weekly emergency room visits increased for eating and tic disorders. The C.D.C. said there was an increase in anxiety, trauma and stress-related issues.