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Targeting
Children's Mental Health
WASHINGTON
(Reuters Health) - US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher unveiled
an action plan yesterday aimed to improve services for children
and adolescents with mental health problems, which the Clinton
administration calls a ``health crisis.''
``Growing
numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional,
behavioral and developmental needs are not being met by the very
institutions and systems that were created to take care of them,''
Satcher said in a statement.
One in 10
US children and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe
enough to cause impairment, according to the report, titled ``National
Action Agenda on Children's Mental Health.'' But less than one
in five of these children receive needed treatment in any given
year.
The report
identifies eight goals with strategies to improve mental health
services for young people and their families. These include promoting
public awareness of children's mental health issues, reducing
the stigma surrounding mental illness, and enhancing the assessment
and recognition of mental health needs in children.
Only when
primary care physicians, pediatricians and other front-line clinicians
recognize a mental health problem can a child or adolescent receive
the appropriate care, he said, adding that physicians need to
keep up with the latest research and treatment protocols in this
area.
``Frequently,
the signs go unrecognized by pediatricians, teachers and by others,''
Dwyer told Reuters Health. In fact, depression and anxiety disorders
are twice as prevalent among younger people than is the widely
recognized attention-deficient disorder, he added. ``The toll
is quite dramatic, both socially and developmentally.''
The Surgeon
General's report is significant, Dwyer noted, in that it is addressing
a wider audience than normal on these issues. The report is also
geared toward educators, justice and law enforcement officials
as well as insurance companies.
``We must
educate all persons who are involved in the care of children on
how to identify early indicators for potential mental health problems,''
Satcher said. ``This begins with families. We need to help families
understand that these problems are real, that they often can be
prevented, and that effective treatments are available.''
Reference
Source 89
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