Change Your World Week Fall 2022 (Archived)

Childrens Mental Health is so circuital and is not discussed enough. In the adolescence stages, children are learning everything. Right versus wrong, how to socialize, how they think and feel about themselves and everyone around them. Many things can impact a child's mental health. As a society that is trying to do better, we need to pay more attention to the children and what affects these mental health issues. According to an article from the American Psychological Association, an estimated 20 million of our nation's children can currently be diagnosed with a mental health disorder.

• Anxiety Depression Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
• Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Post-Traumatic Stress disorder (PTSD)
• Obsessive-Compulsive disorder (OCD)

Mental Health in children ages 3-17 in 2019-20

• ADHD 9.8% (6 million)

• Anxiety 9.4% (5.8 million)

• Behavior Problems 8.9% (5.5 million)

• Depression 4.4% (2.7 million)

Children of illegal immigrants are a group of children who suffer with poor mental health. The child is usually born in the United States of America, but the parents had accessed the country by another means. The children go through circumstances in which they do not understand why their parent/s are being taken away and why they are being left alone. They are stared at unusually, called names at school, and continuously have a stern man or woman in the house (legal officers), that make them feel unwanted in the country. The children do not have the cognitive ability, capacity, perspective, experience or maturity to understand and so they begin to label themselves as dangerous, unwanted, and unwelcome. They do not feel they belong, and they struggle to build a sense of identity. This causes them to develop mental health issues that will affect them short-term and leading into the long-term. 

As a means of helping a child with mental health consider: 

• Taking the time to understand what they are going through. Understand that they do not have the capacity to understand. 
• Speaking gently and with words that encourage. 
• Communication that demonstrates to the child that they can be honest and there will be no judgement. A person communicating with a child with poor mental health should be open-minded. 
• Taking the time to understand society and the area in which they live. The location may help to understand how they have been previously supported or the lack thereof. It will help to understand external influences such as the legal system, cultural values and norms, religion, issues surrounding the area, and so forth. 
• Encourage family members of the child to create connections with community childhood mental health services and professionals. 
• Suggest encouraging a child to join extracurricular activities in which they can create their own social connections, find a place to let off steam, and build a sense of identity. 
• Suggest ways in which the child can cope with and understand their emotions. Reassure them that at their age things get rough and it's going to be hard to navigate but they have people they can turn to. 

Child Psychologists are always readily available and can be found in many locations.

These locations include: 

• School campuses 
• Hospitals 
• Private practices 
• Community health centers 

It is a great idea to reach out whenever and wherever help is needed. For professional insight, it is a good idea to visit a doctor and get a referral to a child psychologist they think will best suit the child's needs. 

Provided below is a poll. With your answers, others will know the places to look when they need a child psychologist. 

When a child is in need of help right away, call or text one of these numbers: 

• National Mental Health Hotline: 866-903-3787 
• Children Suicide Hotline: 988 
• National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 (Spanish speakers available). 
• Crisis Text Line: Text "Hello" to 741741 (comfortably communicate by text). 
• YouthLine: Text "teen2teen" to 839863 or call 1-877-968-8491 
• Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: Call 1-800-422-4453 (170 languages available). 

Reminder: Having a child with mental health can bring stress, heartbreak and mental obstacles to a caregiver as well. Be sure to reach out to these lines to get advice on how to help yourself and the child that you are trying to assist. We cannot help people if we ourselves are not first helped.