According to the Surgeon General, one in five children will have a mental healthcare issue, such as depression or anxiety, by the time he or she is 18. That’s 20 percent.
Yet many pediatricians aren’t always comfortable asking about mental health. Mental health screening should begin when children are school age, as early diagnosis and treatment can improve school performance, interaction with peers and family relationships.
Parents should be on the lookout for changes in the following areas, which may signal a mental health concern:
Parents sometimes believe that adolescence is supposed to be turbulent and that children are supposed to be miserable. While adolescence is certainly a period of change, it shouldn’t be a consistently awful time. Just like people refer to the ‘terrible twos’ of toddler years, by and large, it should be a happy time, with some challenges mixed in. If that’s not the case, mental health screenings should be considered.
Adelaide Robb, MD, is the Chief of the Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, specializing in pediatric mood disorders, schizophrenia and post traumatic stress disorder. She is an internationally known clinical researcher and has participated in and led multiple therapeutic trials for children with a variety of behavioral and psychiatric conditions.
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Posts from Adelaide Robb, MD
Bullying and adolescent suicide
Is it anxiety or acting out?
Could your child have seasonal affective disorder?
Depression and anxiety in kids: signs and symptoms
Shielding kids from internet bullies