RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- On Monday, ABC11 went one-on-one with mental health professionals -- and the state's top health official -- about the rise in mental health issues in children.
According to the CDC, 1 in 5 high school students have suicidal thoughts -- a trend that has continued to tick up since the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, the first steps of a new "action plan" were presented, which health officials hope will help make real strides.
"It touches every corner of this state. It touches every school. So it's top of mind across the board," said NCDHHS Secretary Dr. Dev Sangvai.
Sangvai was recently sworn in as North Carolina's top health official, but before that he was a physician in Durham for two decades, where he observed firsthand the rise in mental health concerns in young people.
"I think after the pandemic, we certainly saw a rise across the board. So as I look over the last 20 years of being a family physician, it's been particularly profound in the last five to maybe seven years," he said.
On Monday, Sangvai was one of the state leaders present at the launch of what health officials call Changing Minds -- an effort to bring lawmakers, law enforcement, doctors and educators to the table together to support adolescent mental health.
"We don't need to study the problem anymore. We know the problem. Now it's about driving toward action," said Kelly Calabria, an executive with Blue Cross NC.
According to nonprofit CaroNova -- the host of Monday night's event in downtown Raleigh -- North Carolina ranks 44th nationally in access to behavioral health resources. For state leaders, that's proof a new approach needs to be taken.
"It's not going to be solved by health care. It's not going to be solved by government. It really requires all of us coming together, finding creative solutions, working collaboratively, looking for consensus," Sangvai said.
Last week, ABC11 reported on a disturbing incident where adolescent mental health issues played a major role. Court documents obtained by ABC11 show a 15-year-old girl was messaging with a man on Instagram who was later charged with kidnapping her in an alleged sex trafficking operation. The mother of the victim told authorities that her daughter had "been diagnosed with depression, has been involuntarily committed in the past, and has had suicidal ideations in the past", according to those documents.
"What I always tell parents is that that is your job as a parent is to check in with your children when you're concerned about them," said Adam Miller, a psychologist with the UNC School of Medicine who helps run their Child and Adolescent Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program. "And just because they're getting older doesn't mean they don't still need you to help them stay safe."
ABC11 asked Miller about the Harnett County case, and how parents should respond to concerns they may have with their child's behavior.
"We now talk about mental health more, and we have better tools to identify kids that are struggling," he said. "And so I think that that's a part of why we've seen things increase over the past several decades."