May 12, 2018, Albany (NY) Herald: Growing need exists for pediatric mental health services—National Alliance on Mental Illness says 50 percent of all chronic illness begins before age 14 http://www.albanyherald.com/news/local/growing-need-exists-for-pediatric-mental-health-services/article_cd80eddd-483a-5840-bdbf-59914d59f839.html Anxiety, conduct disorder, ADHD, depression, substance abuse, trauma, physical and sexual abuse, and cyberbullying are among the issues young people face that impact their mental health. Often, the children and their parents may not know where to turn. Anger, aggression, hopelessness, fatigue, fidgeting, irritability, loss of appetite, mood swings, restlessness, cutting, paranoia, changes in weight and isolation may be among the responses parents see in their children. The National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, says that 50 percent of all chronic illness begins before age 14, and 75 percent begin by age 24, with 20 percent of all youths ages 13-18 living with a mental health condition. Lisa Spears, child and adolescent coordinator and therapist at Aspire Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Services, is based at Aspire’s clubhouse on Dawson Road. The after-school facility serves 136 students who have some kind of mental health diagnosis. … “One in four children has a mental health diagnosis,” Spears said. “That is huge, and those are the children on the radar.” Spears said suicide attempts are taking place at a younger age, as pressure on children has intensified due to social media and the urge to live at a faster pace. … She said ADHD, bipolar, anxiety and depression are the top diagnoses Aspire sees among children. … “The biggest piece is understanding this is a priority at the state level,” she said…. Brands said mental illness is considered a brain disease, with more damage likely to be caused during a crisis. … “There are more kids who are going to need mental health services,” Carden said. “They are not free, and insurance is slow to catch up that it is an important reimbursement.”…
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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