Mental Health: The Overlooked Chronic Condition

Cancer, diabetes, and heart disease are all chronic illnesses that garner a great deal of attention from the medical community and media. After all, chronic disease impacts 50 percent of Americans. Foundations exist to battle the chronic diseases, and education is widespread for patient information.

There is one chronic condition, however, that is often overlooked or forgotten: mental health conditions, especially in our nation’s youth.

The Impact of Chronic Mental Health Conditions

It’s a staggering figure, but 20 percent of youth ages 13-18 live with a mental health condition, and the same number of children have, or will have in the future, a serious mental illness. Studies show that 50 percent of all cases of mental illness begin by the age of 14. Half of these children will drop out of school, and they account for 70 percent of the youth in state and local juvenile systems. This is nothing short of a major epidemic, but only recently have brave individuals stepped up to speak out for mental illness and encourage those in charge to form the same foundations and educational platforms that other chronic illnesses have.

Warning Signs of Mental Health Conditions in Youth

It is often difficult to connect certain behaviors with a mental health condition, but certain warning signs shouldn’t be ignored. Any child experiencing long intervals of sadness, trying to harm himself or others, losing significant weight, demonstrating mood swings that interfere with relationships, abusing drugs or alcohol, or indicating intense worries and fears without cause could very well be suffering from a health condition that needs medical intervention to resolve. Parents should talk with a pediatrician, get a referral to a mental health specialist, work with the school, and connect with other families as a support system.

Stigmas, inadequate health care options, and slow implementation of research discoveries are just three reasons that children don’t always receive the help they need. Some approaches, like the Coaching Boys into Men program or COPE healthy Lifestyles TEEN program in Wisconsin target youth with prevalent mental health conditions to help them establish coping mechanisms and prevent the illness from overtaking adulthood. The more that is done about this chronic issue, the more children can receive the help and support they need to recover.