A new Connecticut Health Department report says that mental disorders surpassed all other ailments as the leading cause of hospitalization in 2012 in the Constitution State for children 5-14, older teenagers and young adults.

Of course, many of these young people have other health problems related to their mental illnesses, such as substance abuse. We wonder how many of these young people frequently present at the state’s Federally Qualified Health Centers.

The New Haven Register reported: “The data show five hospitals had increases of more than 12 percent in the number of days that patients with behavioral health problems were hospitalized. The biggest increases were at Yale-New Haven Hospital, which saw the number of patients rise 61 percent, and inpatient days jump 51 percent; and Waterbury Hospital, with 26 percent more patients and a 37 percent increase in inpatient days. The increase at Yale-New Haven is partly due to its merger with the Hospital of St. Raphael in 2012.”