CDC Releases First Comprehensive Report on Children’s Mental Health
It’s the first comprehensive national report on children’s mental health issued by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During a forum at The Carter Center Friday, the Director of the CDC highlighted key findings of the new report. The report examined data from a variety of sources and found that millions of children are currently living with mental health issues.
The report looked at mental health issues that include: behavior disorders, mood and anxiety disorders and autism spectrum disorders. It found Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the most prevalent current diagnosis. According to data in the report, nearly 7 percent of all U.S. children between the ages of 3 and 17 have ADHD. The report also found that boys are more likely to have mental health disorders than girls but adolescent girls are more likely to report being depressed. Tom Frieden is Director of the CDC.
“We know that all races, all genders, all ethnicities are affected by mental health issues.”
Frieden says much more is needed to recognize, understand and treat mental health issues. He says prevention is key, especially in early childhood. He says some ways to protect children in their first two years include: recognizing problems early, avoiding alcohol and encouraging physical activity.
“We’re increasingly recognizing that in those first few years so much of the pattern is set, and it’s so hard to undo damage, not impossible. Recovery is always possible, but it’s so precious that we protect children.”
Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter says data contained in the report are important because they help further legitimize mental health disorders as public health issues.
“I have never thought that mental illnesses and physical illness, I don’t like to separate them. I think mental illnesses ought to be considered just as physical illnesses in everything, in all the health work.”
Mrs. Carter says there’s more work to do nationally and in Georgia when it comes to mental health. She says a 2010 mental health settlement between the state and U.S. Justice Department only focuses on adults and the state’s mental health system for children and adolescents is fragmented.
“We’re going to have to focus on collaborating across systems.”
In Georgia, a CDC spokesperson says ADHD is also the most prevalent mental health disorder among children and adolescents. The spokesperson says according to the National Survey of Children’s Health in 2007 approximately 6.5 percent of children and adolescents were diagnosed with ADHD.
The same survey examined children and adolescents who had seven mental or emotional conditions that include: depression, anxiety and behavioral or conduct problems, autism spectrum disorders and Tourette syndrome. According to the survey, 9.5 percent of the children whose parents took part in the survey reported they had one or more of the conditions study. Nationally, the percentage was 11.3 percent.
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