It is Mental Health Awareness Month. It is also Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Everything has a day or a week these days. It is also Lemonade Day. Really? Does lemonade need a day? Do we need awareness for Lemonade?
We do need awareness for Mental Illness and especially Children’s Mental Health.
Did you know that 1 in 5 children deal with a mental illness? And out of those children, 1 in 5 of them will not receive any help, treatment or services. What happens to those children that do not get help?
• Half of the children will drop out of high school
• They are twice as likely to start using illicit drugs or alcohol
• They are more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system
• Many attempt suicide
I do not think that anyone reading this said, “Oh, those are my hopes and dreams for my child.”
We all hope for children that grow up to be doctors, engineers and lawyers, to excel at sports. We want our kids to be popular. We hope our kids do not struggle, do not talk back to us. We hope that other parents compliment us on how well behaved our children are. We hope that our child is a Straight A student, on the honor roll, asked to prom, picked first in gym class (are they allowed to do that anymore?), asked out on a date (even though secretly that might be a fear), go to college, etc.
Parents often do not want to face the reality that their children are not “perfect.” But just because your child has an illness, does not mean they are going to be any less perfect than you hoped. They might just need some help, treatment, additional skills, or maybe a little extra support. They might be different than you might have envisioned but perfect in their own way.
If your child had a medical illness, you would not hesitate to seek treatment. You would not hope or pray they would grow out of it. You would not just assume they were lazy or badly behaved. You would seek out answers and help them. You would not tell your child who has cancer that they got cancer for attention. You would not tell your child who broke their leg that you aren’t taking them to get a cast because you don’t want others know about it. Yet because of the stigma associated with mental illness, and because of the lack of knowledge people have, people do not get help for their children when they might have a mental illness. This includes anxiety, ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, autism and others.
Mental illness is an illness of the brain. Mental health problems can be hard to identify especially because some behaviors may just be typical development during certain ages of development. There are so many resources out there that can help you identify what is typical and when you need to seek help. The earlier you seek help, the better. Early intervention has been shown to have a major impact when it comes to children. My own experience with my son has shown this to be true.
It is not easy to come to terms with the fact that the perfect child you wanted may not be “perfect.” It is not easy as a parent to face the fact that your child might hurt emotionally, that that your child might be different. But if you get them help, they can cope. They can succeed.
Do not worry about your child being labeled because of services they might receive at school or in the community. You would put them in a cast if their leg is broken and would not worry about them being labeled as someone with a broken leg. Well, if their brain is broken or injured, do your best to get it fixed. Doesn’t that sound like a better option than drugs, jail, dropping out of school or suicide? I think so.
Feel free to contact me to talk about it. I am not a therapist or a doctor, but I am someone with experience. For immediate assistance, call 1-800-422-0009.
thinkofhappythings 
This is SO important. You are right, no one would hesitate to treat a medical issue in a child, so why should mental illness be any different? I’m a huge supporter of early diagnosis, especially because I was diagnosed so late in life. All of my symptoms began in childhood, yet I was not diagnosed with an eating disorder until 18 (with many medical complications), and ADHD, Bipolar I, and Anxiety last year at 31. I could have been saved a world of grief had I been diagnosed and treated early. There are many people in the same position and I hope that starts to change. I am fortunate in that I know. Some go their whole lives and do not realize they have a mental illness, or are afraid to seek help. Some of it does get interpreted as behavioral problems early on instead of mental illness and that is unfortunate. I don’t think it hurts to evaluate the situation if something seems to be going on. If it ends up being normal behavior, then at least you know. If it is a mental illness (or illnesses), then it has been caught early and may not cause as much destruction down the line because it can be treated.
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Our job as parents is to equip our kids to handle real life. We can’t do that if we ignore illness. It just won’t work. You have to give them the tools and skills to manage it while navigating their life’s path.
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Thanks for your comment. Very good advice!
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