More U.S. kids in hospital for mental illness

American kids are increasingly likely to be admitted to the hospital for mental problems, although rates of non-psychiatric hospitalizations have remained flat, a new study shows.

From 1996 to 2007, the rate of psychiatric hospital discharges rose by more than 80 percent for 5-13-year-olds and by 42 percent for older teens.

'This occurs despite numerous efforts to make outpatient services for the more vulnerable kids more widely available,' said Joseph C. Blader of Stony Brook State University of New York, whose findings appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry. - Yahoo! News