National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week

This has been a big week, a week of gigantic, monumental proportions - we are nearing the end of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Maybe you have heard of it, maybe you haven’t, but either way, I would invite you to bring the spirit of this week into your home today, and in the future.

National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week and day was established by the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health to promote positive, mental health, well-being and social development for all children and adolescents. The most recent Report of the Surgeon General indicated that about 20% of children are estimated to have a diagnosable mental disorder with at least mild functional impairment. Of all the various mental disorders, anxiety is the most common problem for children (approximately 13%). Although a substantial portion of children do “grow out” of disorder, many mental disorders identified in childhood and adolescence do persist into adulthood.

Thus, awareness and intervention is critical! It is so very important that parents and other caring adults are aware of normative development and understand the signs of emotional distress. There are a number of proven and effective treatments available (most of them do not include medication!). If you suspect your child, or a child you know, may be struggling with emotional distress, you should seek the advice and guidance of a mental health professional. 

If you are uncertain where to start, you can begin by talking with your child’s teacher and/or school counselor. They have most likely worked with a number of children who have received mental health services from qualified professionals, and they can make an informed recommendation for someone in the community. If you are like many people these days, and you do not have extra cash to pay for a counselor, there are many low cost alternatives available in the community. Look in the phone book for local university counseling clinics. Universities typically have graduate training programs for counselors, and they offer sliding scale fees (pay only what you can afford based upon your salary) to community members. The quality of the services is typically quite high given that the trainees are being supervised by very experienced counselors.

If you would like additional information on children with behavior problems, sad or worried feelings, check out the additional resources we offer at Education.com. Most importantly, do not delay if you suspect that a child may be suffering from emotional distress. It doesn’t have to be so hard!

Tags: children's mental health, children's mental health awareness week, counselor

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.