Mental Health Issues In Children

Nearly 5 million children in the U.S. have some type of serious mental illness (one that significantly interferes with daily life). In any given year, 20% of American children will be diagnosed with a mental illness.  Identifying mental disorders in children can be tricky for healthcare providers because children differ from adults in that they experience many physical, mental, and emotional changes as they progress through their natural growth and development. They also are in the process of learning how to cope with, adapt, and relate to others and the world around them.  Mental Health issues in children run a full spectrum of disorders that can include anxiety and depression, affective mood disorders, substance abuse issues and a multitude of disorders in between.

 

Americans are routinely shut out of mental health facilities across the country for lack of beds.  In many major US cities, bed shortages have prompted emergency rooms to "warehouse" the mentally ill in holding rooms and hallways, where they go without treatment before they are released.  For Virginians, the impact became very real when details emerged about the shooter at Virginia Tech in 2007, the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history that killed 32 people.  Seung-Hui Cho was ordered by a judge to seek care after making suicidal remarks to his roommates. He was evaluated at a mental health facility and later released.  In 2013, State Senator Criegh Deeds was stabbed when his son, Gus Deeds, was released from a Virginia hospital after a mental health evaluation, reportedly because there were no psychiatric beds available in the area.  The consequences of that release were exceptionally tragic as well when the day after being released, Gus Deeds stabbed his father, before killing himself. 

 

In response to the tremendous need in Richmond for a children’s psych center, a story in Richmond BizSense reported:

"HCA Virginia’s Chippenham Hospital recently unveiled its new 9,000-square-foot Child and Adolescent Treatment Center.  The $4.5 million project, part of the hospital’s Tucker Pavilion, added 24 new beds for patients ages 5 to 17 in need of treatment for psychiatric trauma and crisis stabilization.   In 2014, Tucker was forced to turn away 1,160 young patients and prior to opening the addition, it had to refuse another 969 patients in the first half of 2015, a 30 percent increase from the same period last year."

An organization that is near and dear to all of our hearts here at Gateway is SpeakUp.  SpeakUp is the legacy of Cameron Gallagher who was running the Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach when she passed away as she crossed the finish line from an undiagnosed heart condition. Cameron suffered from severe depression and anxiety for several years and was in the process addressing the misplaced stigma held by so many about teenage depression. Her dream was to create a 5k race in her community to help raise awareness of teenage depression. She had titled that race the SpeakUp5k in order to draw attention to the issue of teen depression and to let other teens like herself know that it was okay to “Speak Up” about their personal battles.    This year the second annual Richmond SpeakUp5K is being held on September 12th in Byrd Park.  Gateway proudly supports SpeakUp and encourages you to visit http://speakup5k.com/ to volunteer, register, donate or to simply learn more about this great organization and what they are doing to be a positive force that works to cultivate awareness and understanding of teenage depression and anxiety. 

If you know of a child or adolescent that you think might need help, don't wait.  There a lots of resources available to help combat this growing concern.  Call your pediatrician or visit some mental health resources such as http://www.dbhds.virginia.gov/ or http://www.mentalhealth4kids.org/ for more information.