May is National Mental Health Awareness Month. This month we would like to focus the spotlight on some of the myths about mental health and help young people in Juneau and Southeast feel less stigmatized by their diagnosis. We often refer to mental illness as the “no casserole” illness because when people are diagnosed with cancer or any other life-threatening disease, friends and family members bring over casseroles and prepared meals to show their support and love. But rarely does anyone bring a casserole to a family struggling valiantly to cope with overwhelming mental health challenges. The stigma of mental illness and playing the shame game can adversely impact children, adolescents and young adults who have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder.
Many children and teens with mental health challenges keep their pain secret. Other youth express their feelings with risky behaviors or in angry and offensive ways. Due largely to stigma that includes fear, shame, and misunderstanding about mental illness, more than half of young people who need help may never receive clinical care. Discrediting the myths about child mental health is critical to connecting more young people to the help and understanding they need and deserve.
One leading myth is that a child with a mental health condition is damaged for life. This is both unfair and untrue because mental illness is by no means an indication of a child’s potential for future happiness and fulfillment. If a child’s mental health challenges are recognized and treated than she has a good chance of managing or overcoming symptoms and developing into a healthy adult.
The second myth is that mental illness is the result of a personal weakness. For the health and well-being of young people it is important that this myth be debunked. It may be difficult to separate the symptoms of a child’s mental health condition such as impulsive behavior, aggressiveness, or extreme anxiety, from a child’s character. However, mental health conditions are medical illnesses, just like diabetes or leukemia, and not a personality type. We can’t expect children and teens to have the tools to overcome these challenges on their own, but they can recover and manage their illness with the help of professional services and supports.
This next myth does a major disservice to young people everywhere. Many people believe strongly that a child can manage a mental health condition through willpower. This is not the case. A mental health diagnosis is not mild anxiety or a change in mood, but rather something much more serious. It is persistent distress and dysfunction that can affect all areas of a child’s life. Kids don’t have the skills and life experience to manage conditions as overwhelming as depression or anxiety. Children and teens can benefit profoundly from the right treatment plan, which usually includes behavioral therapy, and can help restore their well-being.
An equally harmful myth is that therapy for children is a waste of time. Therapy can offer the key to unlocking the mystery for both a child and his family about his mental health diagnosis. Treatment for childhood mental illness isn’t just talk therapy, although that can play a key role. Today’s best evidence-based treatment programs for children and teens use cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) or dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT), which focuses on changing the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are causing serious problems. Research has also shown that there’s a window of opportunity during the first few years after symptoms appear that treatment interventions are most successful.
Another misconception is that children grow out of mental health problems. The truth is much more sobering. Children are less likely to grow out of mental illness than they are to grow into more debilitating conditions. Most mental health problems left untreated in childhood become more difficult to treat in adulthood. Since we know that half of mental health conditions emerge before a child’s 14th birthday, it is essential we screen young people for emotional and behavioral health problems. A child’s brain is more responsive to change and treatment at that age and this treatment is more likely to be successful when a child begins it at a younger age.
A report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that nearly 20 percent of American children aged 3 to 17 suffer from some form of mental health condition, which is defined as serious changes in the ways children handle their emotions, learn, or behave.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offers information through the national website www.nami.org and Helpline 1-800-950-NAMI (6264). NAMI Juneau provides free education classes and support groups to individuals living with mental illness, their family members and friends. For more information go to www.namijuneau.org or call the NAMI Juneau Office at (907) 463-4251.
Alexis Ross Miller is a born and bred Alaskan. Three and a half years ago she was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder and with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. She has been volunteering with NAMI Juneau and is a certified Peer-to-Peer facilitator. She has taken the Peer-to-Peer workshop in Juneau and also the Family-to-Family workshop that NAMI Juneau offers annually. And she highly recommends all these free NAMI Signature programs to anyone who is interested.
