Your children also have mental health challenges

During the national month of mental health of minorities, we can never forget the youngest of us, who are more anxious and depressed at previous ages. DRE Christine Crawford, Nami associate medical director, said: “If adults have trouble finding strategies that will help navigate in stressful situations, children will not be able to observe some of these strategies. And they do not have the tools to navigate this socially and emotionally difficult moment. ”

Anxiety and depression rates are increasing

“What I can be true too is that the rates of anxiety and depression have increased,” said Dr. Crawford, the author of you is not alone: The NAMI guide to navigate your child’s mental health – with advice from experts and the wisdom of real families.

Children as young as three years have felt anxious, according to the CDC. Almost one in 5 to 5 years old (21%) had been diagnosed with a state of mental, emotional or behavioral health.

According to journal tests, depression rate reports for secondary and secondary children have increased exponentially. “From 2001 to 2017, rates increased among boys and black girls, 60% and 182%, respectively.”

In the Report Ring the alarm: The Crisis of Black Youth Suicide in America, “Self-reported suicide Have Increased by 73% for Black Male and Female Adolescents Over the Past 25 Years. Meanwhile, Black adolescents are significant Suicide – WITH PERVASIVE STRUCTURAL Inequités, Social Determinants of Health, STIGMA, AND MISTRUST OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS CREATING DAUNTING BARRIERS TO TREATMENT. “

Black children as young as five are trying to commit suicide

Dr. Crawford noted that overall, in our community, there is an alarming suicide rate, a suicidal behavior that occurs in children and much younger children. “We are doing much more research that includes children as young as five years, when, historically, we are looking for suicide and suicidal behavior, we think of an older population,” said the child psychiatrist.

“But what we know is true is that black children aged five to 12 are twice as likely to try and commit suicide, and therefore children have trouble, and there is a lack of support for good quality mental health in the community.”

What should parents do?

If you suspect that your child can have mental health challenges. Dr. Crawford suggests the following:

Look for changes in their models

• eating habits
• sleep cycles
• When they wake up
• energy levels

“Whether in their sleep habits, their energy level, their ability to concentrate and concentrate, or to changes in their appetite. It is a signal that something could be different, because it gives you meaning as to the way they work from a physical point of view.”

Monitor their academic performance and social circles

• How do they perform at school?
• Is there a change in their interaction with friends?

“If your child wins A and B and now wins C
“The same goes for the way they interact with their friends. If they dragged at Susie every Friday, but now you notice that they don’t go out so often.

Parents, if you notice changes in your child, Dr. Crawford suggests talking to them about a specific point of view. “I tell parents to approach their child in a place of curiosity and explore with their child the behavior changes you have noticed,” she said.

“It is easier to talk about specific behaviors than to approach someone and be like” you are depressed, what happens? ” Why are you all looking for?

We can no longer afford to ignore the mental health of our children

Dr. Crawford shared a statistic that gives to think: “50% of mental health symptoms take place before the age of 14 and 75% before the age of 24.”

Some parents may hesitate to put their children on prescription drugs. However, she urges them to consider him under a different perspective.

“People die from these conditions in the same way that someone would die from not having a treated heart problem. It is the same thing,” she said.

“I try to encourage parents to think about it in the same way., Because for parents, there seems to be a lot of guilt. But would do all this with asthma, no, do you want to do all this with a depressed disorder or anxiety?

We must be open to our positive mental health experiences

“Regarding mental health, you always hear about the drawbacks of over-prescribing drugs, over-diagnosing, and that you rarely hear about positive aspects, especially in the black community,” said Dr. Crawford. “We must be more open and honest about the treatment we have received for our mental health and to talk about what it was to be in therapy. Many of our families do not have this knowledge base dealing with the mental health system. ”