Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/515661
t m c » p u l s e | m a y 2 0 1 5 5 children to learn coping strategies, build resilience and manage their disor- der as best they can. To help care for the Houston popula- tion, institutions throughout the Texas Medical Center offer an extensive range of services for children and adolescents, including inpatient and outpatient facilities geared toward the diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder, anxi- ety, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, mood disorders including depression, tics, Tourette syndrome, disorders associated with trauma, learning and developmental disabilities, anorexia and bulimia, substance abuse, suicide and others. The problem is, it's not enough. Take for example the need for inpatient hospitalization. If a mother reaches out to her child's physician in the case of a critical mental health emergency, he or she will tell her to call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room for care. Unfortunately, the major- ity of hospitals in the Texas Medical Center, and throughout Houston for that matter, do not offer pediatric inpatient psychiatric care—leaving T hink of five children. They can be your own, your nieces or neph- ews, your grandkids, even the rowdy neighborhood brood who visit your front porch to trick-or-treat each year. Now close your eyes and picture one of them with a serious, debilitating mental health disorder—persistent depression or anxiety, recurrent yet unpredictable bipolar episodes, autism, alcoholism, or anorexia so severe his or her frail heart muscles eventually give out completely. It's remarkably unlikely, isn't it? Open your eyes. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), just over 20 percent, or one in five children, either currently or at some point in their lives suffer from a serious diagnosable mental health disorder. Some of these kids will require hospi- talization, perhaps long-term treatment in acute-care facilities. Others will do well with weekly psychiatric counsel- ing, medication, or other outpatient services. Still, there will be those who struggle despite numerous and varied combinations of therapy. No matter what form their treatment takes, some type of assistance is vital for these Left Behind physicians and parents with limited options during a crisis. "I generally try hard not to admit a child to an inpatient facility unless absolutely necessary," said Laurel Williams, D.O., director of residency training, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Baylor College of Medicine as well as director of the Baylor Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic and associate professor of the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor. "If we can find another option, usually hospitalization is the last resort." It's not because the inpatient facilities that exist in Houston are not excellent, or that treatment is not effective—it's simply because resources are so scarce. Williams explained that the majority of hospitals in the TMC do not offer pediatric inpatient psychiatric care, so when a child presents at these emergency rooms in need of hospital- ization because he or she is a potential harm to others or themselves, the child would need to be transferred to a differ- ent institution in order to be admitted to an appropriate treatment facility. DESPITE THE WEALTH OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE TEXAS MEDICAL CENTER, TOO MANY CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN HOUSTON FIND THEMSELVES WAITING FOR TREATMENT. B y A l e x a n dr a Beck er