by Lisa Frederiksen
As you’ve read in previous posts on this site, mental illness is one 
of the key risk factors for a person’s developing an alcohol abuse or alcohol addiction problem. We often do not realize that young – really young – children can suffer mental health problems. To that end, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ SAMHSA (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration) is sponsoring the 5th Annual National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day on May 6.
Quoting from their website page, Children and Adolescent Mental Health:
Mental Health Is Important
Mental health is how people think, feel, and act as they face life’s situations. It affects how people handle stress, relate to one another, and make decisions. Mental health influences the ways individuals look at themselves, their lives, and others in their lives. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life.
All aspects of our lives are affected by our mental health. Caring for and protecting our children is an obligation and is critical to their daily lives and their independence.
Children and Adolescents Can Have Serious Mental Health Problems
Like adults, children and adolescents can have mental health disorders that interfere with the way they think, feel, and act. When untreated, mental health disorders can lead to school failure, family conflicts, drug abuse, violence, and even suicide. Untreated mental health disorders can be very costly to families, communities, and the health care system.
| In this fact sheet, “Mental Health Problems” for children and adolescents refers to the range of all diagnosable emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders. They include depression, attention- deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and anxiety, conduct, and eating disorders. Mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time.”Serious Emotional Disturbances” for children and adolescents refers to the above disorders when they severely disrupt daily functioning in home, school, or community. Serious emotional disturbances affect 1 in every 10 young people at any given time.1 |
Mental Health Disorders Are More Common in Young People than Many Realize
Studies show that at least one in five children and adolescents have a mental health disorder. At least one in 10, or about 6 million people, have a serious emotional disturbance.¹
One of the key factors affecting a child’s mental health is growing up in a family with a loved one who abuses alcohol or is an alcoholic. If the problem is not addressed, everyone’s feelings are dismissed in an attempt to keep the peace while the drinking is seemingly ignored or minimized, or conversely, is constantly the source of fights and tension in the home. As The National Institute on Drug Abuse states on its website page, Drug Abuse and Addiction, “Children’s earliest interactions within the family are crucial to their healthy development and risk for drug abuse.”
To learn more about children’s mental health issues or to get involved in this national celebration, click here – for our children’s sake.
