According to NAMI’s report, 1 out of 10 American children are affected by mental illness that may become a life impairment. And, only 1 out of 5 of these children get the help that they need. That equals to about 80% never receiving appropriate assistance.
While I may not agree on all points recommended in this report, several of them are worth paying attention to, such as:
1) There should be a system in place in schools, organisations, etc. to provide early detection and intervention.
2) There is no ‘one size fit all’ when it comes to treating mental illness. Individualised assessments and interventions should be available.
3) Parents (and other people caring for children) should be educated in detecting mental illness. This is a tough one, as most parents would probably resist the idea of their kids being mentally ill — especially in cultures where such things are not acceptable. In some cases, parents may also be over-worried and may think that their child needs psychiatric medication when the problem may not be psychiatric in nature.
In any case, if you wish to read more, you can get the full report at NAMI.
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