Looking out for kids' mental well-being
CBC News
by Melanie Barwick
November 10, 2009
Melanie Barwick is a registered psychologist with a primary role as a health systems scientist in the Community Health Systems Resource Group at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto
A colleague lost a child to suicide this summer. Sadly, this tragic event will be familiar to too many people. For most of us, children who suffer from depression, face each day with thoughts of suicide, or struggle with other forms of mental illness are not part of our daily consciousness. Here is why I think it should be, and why we need to pay more attention to the well-being of kids and families in Canada overall.
When we think of mental disorders, we tend to associate them with adults. Too few people recognize that children experience them too, and so, too, do toddlers, who may manifest attachment disorders that can lead to problems in learning, social relationships, and behavior throughout life.
About one in five children or young people will experience some form of mental disorder at any given time in their childhood. In a classroom of 35 kids, this means seven kids will be affected.
It's important to know the signs and step in early, because when mental disorders begin in childhood they can have a big impact on development, affecting school success and social relationships. Shockingly, suicide is the second leading cause of non-accidental death among 10-19 year olds in Canada.
What's normal?
Children experience many changes as they grow. Some of these changes can be seen in their ability to manage their moods and emotions. It can be difficult to identify when these mood shifts are more than 'normal' and require special attention.
How can you tell the difference between the normal changes of childhood and symptoms of mental illness? Some of things to look for include the following;
What parents can do
If you are troubled by your child's emotions or behaviours, talk to your child and let them know your concerns. Listen to what they have to say. Check in with other people who know your child well, such as a teacher, friend, or relative, and ask if they have noticed anything different or worrisome in your child's behaviour. You may want to speak to your family doctor as well, who may rule out any physical causes for the changes you are noticing. Parents often second guess themselves, wondering if they should be worried. Rule of thumb: if you are worried, that should be enough validation and you should look into the problem until those worries are quelled.
How to get help
Mental health disorders often require a variety of resources, from within the family and the community, including school. A broad range of services is often necessary to meet the needs of these young people and their families.
Across Canada, there is a government-funded agency in or near your community that provides free mental health services. You can take your child to one of these agencies directly or be referred by someone like a teacher, psychologist, school social worker, or family physician. Your child's name may have to go on a waiting list before he or she receives treatment.
You can also try private practice mental health professionals, such as psychologists, who will charge you a fee for their services. This may be the route to go if you suspect or are told by a teacher that your child would benefit from a psycho-educational assessment because of academic difficulties. Look into whether these services are covered, at least in part, by the health benefits plan where you work.
If you decide to call your local child-and-youth mental health centre, your call will usually be answered by an intake worker. In some regions, your call will be answered by a central intake service. The intake worker will collect information about you and your child or youth's problem. They will then provide you with information and/or connect you with an appropriate service close to home. Anyone can make this call — kids, parents, guardians or others directly involved in the child's life.
While you're waiting for help, you can help yourself by reading about children's mental health and/or joining a support group for parents.
What we can all do
UNICEF's Child Well-Being Report (2007) states: "The true measure of a nation's standing is how well it attends to its children - their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born."
Canada ranks 18th among the 21 OECD countries in terms of childhood well-being in family and peer relationships, 17th in terms of behaviours and risks, and 16th in terms of subjective well-being, according to the report.
Clearly, we need to pay more attention to children's well-being and success across Canada. Such measurements are important first steps to defining policy improvements, helping to focus our attention to a problem, providing an early warning of failure or success, and ultimately, they should help us to allocate resources more effectively.
Sadly, however, throughout North America, children's mental health services are extremely under-resourced. Continued and worsening mental disorders lead to unnecessary and long-term consequences for kids, their families, and society. We know that with proper treatment, kids can get back on track toward healthy and successful futures. We need to ensure that kids who need mental health services can get them in a timely way.
Relationships with family and friends matter a great deal to children, and are also important to long-term emotional and psychological development. We need to pay attention to the quality of family relationships. More than 30 per cent of kids don't eat a main meal with their family during the week. That is important time lost; time that is critical to building strong and healthy children. Only about 45 per cent of Canadian 15-year-olds report spending time with their parents just to talk, several times a week. What are we doing with our time that we believe is more important, I wonder?
Kids' relationships with their friends become increasingly important over the years. According to the World Health Organization: "Being liked and accepted by peers" is "crucial to young people's health and development, and those who are not socially integrated are far more likely to exhibit difficulties with their physical and emotional health."
Sadly, more than 30 per cent of Canadian kids aged 11, 13 and 15 do not see their peers as "kind and helpful." Despite these dismal statistics, organizations like PREVNet that work to promote positive relationships and combat bullying among Canadian kids are about to run out of federal funding with no new funding in sight, despite their being linked with 62 expert researchers from 27 Canadian universities, and 49 national organizations. All Canadians need to understand how healthy children and families effectively promote the success of our country in the world's future.
We can do better, both at home and in our communities. Our governments can do better. Spend time with your kids, just to talk or share a meal. Learn the signs of stress and mental illness in children and act early to prevent further problems — parents, friends, teachers, and health professionals all have a role to play here. Tell your provincial and federal government that you want greater attention and resources for child and family well-being. Get involved at a community level and petition your MPP for more investment in child and youth mental health. And, in every way you can, show kids you care. Our kids are counting on us, and their well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of our country.
CBC News
by Melanie Barwick
November 10, 2009
Melanie Barwick is a registered psychologist with a primary role as a health systems scientist in the Community Health Systems Resource Group at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto
A colleague lost a child to suicide this summer. Sadly, this tragic event will be familiar to too many people. For most of us, children who suffer from depression, face each day with thoughts of suicide, or struggle with other forms of mental illness are not part of our daily consciousness. Here is why I think it should be, and why we need to pay more attention to the well-being of kids and families in Canada overall.
When we think of mental disorders, we tend to associate them with adults. Too few people recognize that children experience them too, and so, too, do toddlers, who may manifest attachment disorders that can lead to problems in learning, social relationships, and behavior throughout life.
About one in five children or young people will experience some form of mental disorder at any given time in their childhood. In a classroom of 35 kids, this means seven kids will be affected.
It's important to know the signs and step in early, because when mental disorders begin in childhood they can have a big impact on development, affecting school success and social relationships. Shockingly, suicide is the second leading cause of non-accidental death among 10-19 year olds in Canada.
What's normal?
Children experience many changes as they grow. Some of these changes can be seen in their ability to manage their moods and emotions. It can be difficult to identify when these mood shifts are more than 'normal' and require special attention.
How can you tell the difference between the normal changes of childhood and symptoms of mental illness? Some of things to look for include the following;
- Changes behaviour suddenly — e.g., withdraws or loses interest in activities and friendships they previously enjoyed.
- Shows signs of feeling sad, anxious, guilty, fearful, irritable or hopeless.
- Avoids situations or places they did not use to avoid; avoiding friends and family.
- Experiences frequent physical ailments — e.g., headaches, stomach aches, difficulty eating or sleeping, greater fatigue.
- Uses alcohol or drugs — particularly when alone.
- Shows a decline in school performance.
- Has difficulty coping with everyday problems.
- Disregard for others' property.
- Dissatisfaction with their weight, changes in eating behaviour, loss of appetite.
- Deliberately hurt themselves, threaten to, or talk of suicide.
- Worries constantly.
- Experiences frequent mood swings.
- Is unconcerned with his or her appearance.
What parents can do
If you are troubled by your child's emotions or behaviours, talk to your child and let them know your concerns. Listen to what they have to say. Check in with other people who know your child well, such as a teacher, friend, or relative, and ask if they have noticed anything different or worrisome in your child's behaviour. You may want to speak to your family doctor as well, who may rule out any physical causes for the changes you are noticing. Parents often second guess themselves, wondering if they should be worried. Rule of thumb: if you are worried, that should be enough validation and you should look into the problem until those worries are quelled.
How to get help
Mental health disorders often require a variety of resources, from within the family and the community, including school. A broad range of services is often necessary to meet the needs of these young people and their families.
Across Canada, there is a government-funded agency in or near your community that provides free mental health services. You can take your child to one of these agencies directly or be referred by someone like a teacher, psychologist, school social worker, or family physician. Your child's name may have to go on a waiting list before he or she receives treatment.
You can also try private practice mental health professionals, such as psychologists, who will charge you a fee for their services. This may be the route to go if you suspect or are told by a teacher that your child would benefit from a psycho-educational assessment because of academic difficulties. Look into whether these services are covered, at least in part, by the health benefits plan where you work.
If you decide to call your local child-and-youth mental health centre, your call will usually be answered by an intake worker. In some regions, your call will be answered by a central intake service. The intake worker will collect information about you and your child or youth's problem. They will then provide you with information and/or connect you with an appropriate service close to home. Anyone can make this call — kids, parents, guardians or others directly involved in the child's life.
While you're waiting for help, you can help yourself by reading about children's mental health and/or joining a support group for parents.
What we can all do
UNICEF's Child Well-Being Report (2007) states: "The true measure of a nation's standing is how well it attends to its children - their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born."
Canada ranks 18th among the 21 OECD countries in terms of childhood well-being in family and peer relationships, 17th in terms of behaviours and risks, and 16th in terms of subjective well-being, according to the report.
Clearly, we need to pay more attention to children's well-being and success across Canada. Such measurements are important first steps to defining policy improvements, helping to focus our attention to a problem, providing an early warning of failure or success, and ultimately, they should help us to allocate resources more effectively.
Sadly, however, throughout North America, children's mental health services are extremely under-resourced. Continued and worsening mental disorders lead to unnecessary and long-term consequences for kids, their families, and society. We know that with proper treatment, kids can get back on track toward healthy and successful futures. We need to ensure that kids who need mental health services can get them in a timely way.
Relationships with family and friends matter a great deal to children, and are also important to long-term emotional and psychological development. We need to pay attention to the quality of family relationships. More than 30 per cent of kids don't eat a main meal with their family during the week. That is important time lost; time that is critical to building strong and healthy children. Only about 45 per cent of Canadian 15-year-olds report spending time with their parents just to talk, several times a week. What are we doing with our time that we believe is more important, I wonder?
Kids' relationships with their friends become increasingly important over the years. According to the World Health Organization: "Being liked and accepted by peers" is "crucial to young people's health and development, and those who are not socially integrated are far more likely to exhibit difficulties with their physical and emotional health."
Sadly, more than 30 per cent of Canadian kids aged 11, 13 and 15 do not see their peers as "kind and helpful." Despite these dismal statistics, organizations like PREVNet that work to promote positive relationships and combat bullying among Canadian kids are about to run out of federal funding with no new funding in sight, despite their being linked with 62 expert researchers from 27 Canadian universities, and 49 national organizations. All Canadians need to understand how healthy children and families effectively promote the success of our country in the world's future.
We can do better, both at home and in our communities. Our governments can do better. Spend time with your kids, just to talk or share a meal. Learn the signs of stress and mental illness in children and act early to prevent further problems — parents, friends, teachers, and health professionals all have a role to play here. Tell your provincial and federal government that you want greater attention and resources for child and family well-being. Get involved at a community level and petition your MPP for more investment in child and youth mental health. And, in every way you can, show kids you care. Our kids are counting on us, and their well-being is inextricably linked to the well-being of our country.
