By Dr. Arshia Qaadir
On a recent day at his pediatric office in Vienna, Virginia, Dr. Michael Martin noticed something unusual about his schedule. “Twenty-five percent of my visits that day were related to mental health issues,” said the president of the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. “During the winter and with the stressors of school, it might not have caught my attention — but this was the beginning of summer.”
Unfortunately, this has become the new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has exacerbated an existing problem.
