Looking for ways to reach out and help your child?
According to a survey by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), about 13% of American children and teens have at least one mental health disorder.
What’s shocking is that only half of this number have been seen by a mental health professional.
This is in part bacause of the lack mental health professionals that specialize in child psychiatry in the U.S.
Common mental disorders include: anxiety disorder, panic disorder, eating disorders, conduct disorder, depression, and ADHD.
The study also shows that race played a role in the likelihood that a child will seek mental health care.
African-Americans and Mexican-Americans were significantly less likely to seek treatment than whites, highlighting the need to identify and remove barriers to treatment for minority youth.
As parents, you can help your kids by first acknowledging that your kids may have mental health problems.
Seek help – if it’s too expensive, most schools should have a school counselor that could help relieve some of these problems. This is totally free and you can simply call the front office of your child’s school to set up an appointment with the counselor.
How do you feel about kids’ mental health issues being unaddressed? Do you think social institutions should do something about it?
Kids’ Mental Health Issues Often Unaddressed [ABC News]
