CHEO - Mental Health

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Hospital Research Foundation

More and more children across the region are being diagnosed with mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and panic attacks.

At least 500,000 Ontario children – up to one in five - have difficulties that are diagnosed as a serious mental illness. In the last few years, CHEO’s Emergency department has continued to see a sharp increase in the number of children and teens admitted for mental health crises.

CHEO is one of the largest providers of child and youth mental health services in Ontario. More than 2,600 children visited CHEO’s Emergency department with a mental health crisis in the fiscal year 2011. There was a 73% increase in mental health visits to Emergency from 2007 to 2011 and sadly the numbers are still on the rise.

Are you looking for information on mental health? We want to help! CHEO has created this special mental health website to help you navigate the many services and resources available to children, youth and their families.


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Dustin Garron
Renfrew, ON

Being a teenager can be one of the most difficult periods of your life. There is a lot of pressure to succeed. Teenagers are stressed, feeling like they have to figure out their whole lives while trying to graduate from high schools where the workloads are bigger than ever before and where those who are “different” face discrimination on a daily basis.

Jessica Mahusky
Ottawa, ON

Jessica’s story is one of inspiration and courage. Having struggled with an eating disorder since the age of twelve, Jessica’s early adolescence was spent in-and-out of CHEO, as attempts to heal both physically and mentally proved harder than ever imaginable.