The mental health of children and young people has deteriorated in recent years. One in six Latvian parents, or 16%, say they have observed mental or mental and physical health problems in their children. At the same time, waiting in line to see a specialist often takes several months, so children whose parents can afford to pay for a specialist's consultation or the necessary examination have a better chance of receiving timely help, which essentially means sorting children, experts said at a discussion on 15 January between the Latvian Children's Aid Foundation (LCAF) and Olpha, a Latvian drug manufacturer.

The survey also reveals that only one in three parents (34%) know where to turn for help if their child has a mental health problem. The rest say they are only partially aware or do not know anything about it. At the same time, access to specialists is difficult, especially for consultations with a child psychiatrist or neurologist, for whom in some cases the waiting list is more than six months. 38% of respondents said that their child had to wait several weeks in line to see a specialist, 34% waited several months, and 17% said they had to wait more than half a year to get a consultation or examination.

However, consulting a psychiatrist or neurologist is only the first step, as the treatment process can be complex and may require the involvement of other specialists such as speech therapists, psychologists and others, as well as various examinations. In these situations, parents expect a plan to be put in place for their child's treatment. However, as the survey shows, the reality is quite different. Only 15% of respondents revealed that their children have such a comprehensive treatment plan and are fully supported. At the same time, more than half, or 57%, of parents said they do not have such a plan, even though they would very much like one. The situation is certainly more difficult outside Riga and the big cities, where some services and specialists are not available at all.

“Every year, the Latvian Children's Aid Foundation in cooperation with the Riga City Municipality provides social rehabilitation services to more than 60 families whose children have behavioural disorders. However, this is far less than the actual needs. We also see that such facilities are urgently needed in other parts of Latvia, so we call on the ministries responsible for health and welfare, in cooperation with municipalities, to find a way to provide social rehabilitation services and support to families outside Riga,”
says Kaspars Markševics, Head of the Latvian Children's Fund.

“Parents whose children have mental health problems unfortunately have only two choices at the moment - to pay for everything out of their own pocket or to wait in line for a consultation with a specialist for several months. The waiting list for a state-funded child psychiatrist can be more than a year in some cases. If you want to get the service sooner, the only option is often a paid consultation, which is financially unaffordable for many families and often limits your chances of getting state-funded tests later in the process. It is not fair that the state has created a system where the timely treatment of children with mental health problems depends on parents' ability to pay,”
says Dace Šramma, a mother of three, one of whose children has a mental health disorder. She has also launched an initiative on Manabalss.lv to change the situation.

Diāna Paradnika, a neurologist and Head of the Medical Department at the Latvian drug manufacturer Olpha, reminds us that it is important for parents to take care of themselves when caring for their children, as children's emotional difficulties affect the whole family.

“A few years ago, Harvard University published the results of a study on how parents are affected by their children's mental health problems. It was found that children's and parents' emotions operate on the principle of a connected vessel and are closely linked. In other words, if children have mental health problems, parents may also have mental health problems and vice versa. This is why it is important for parents of children with mental health problems to take care of their own emotional well-being and health,”
urges neurologist Diana Paradnik, highlighting the need for a system that can support the whole family in case of health problems.

This year 15. In the expert discussion “Children's Mental Health: Waiting in line for support”, the participants were Kaspars Markševics, Head of the Latvian Children's Aid Foundation; Nikita Bezborodovs, Lecturer at the Department of Psychiatry and Narcology at RSU, Head of the Child Psychiatry Clinic and Development Manager of the Adolescent Resource Centre; Diāna Paradnika, neurologist and Head of Olpha's Medical Department; as well as Dace Šramma, mother of three children and manabalss of the initiative on access to child psychiatry, diagnostics and rehabilitation services in Latvia.lv platform.