By Martha Bebinger, National Public Radio, June 23, 2021
One evening in late March, a mom called 911. Her daughter, she said, was threatening to kill herself. EMTs arrived at the home north of Boston, helped calm the 13-year-old, and took her to an emergency room.
Melinda, like a growing number of children during the pandemic, had become increasingly anxious and depressed as she spent more time away from in-person contact at school, church and her singing lessons.
NPR has agreed to use only the first names for this teenager and her mother, Pam, to avoid having this story trail the family online. Right now in Massachusetts, in many parts of the U.S, and the world, demand for mental health care overwhelms supply, creating bottlenecks like Melinda's 17-day saga.
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