I hope you’re all having a fun Halloween. Unfortunately, our household is a little under the weather but we’ll still be dressing up to try and have some fun. I think its important for me, John and for our kids to have days like Halloween to bring joy and creativity into our lives. Its moments like trick or treating together that help me maintain my mood, let me feel the bliss of parenting, and allow my kids to share their joys with us as a family.
Mayo Clinic researchers in partnership with numerous national mental health advocacy organizations launched new simple-to-understand tools to help identify youth who may have mental health disorders.
According to Mayo, its estimated up to 75 percent of youth with mental health disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, anxiety, and eating disorders are usually not identified, and youth do not receive the care they need.
After surveying more than 6,000 parents and children about mental health services in the United States during the past decade, researchers created a mental health disorder Action Signs tool kit to help easily identify symptoms for youth who may be experiencing mental disorders.
If your child has any of these 11 warning signs, he or she may have a mental health disorder and should be referred to treatment as soon as possible:
- Feeling very sad or withdrawn for two or more weeks
- Seriously trying to harm or kill themselves, or making plans to do so
- Sudden overwhelming fear for no reason, sometimes with a racing heart or fast breathing
- Involved in multiple fights, using a weapon, or wanting badly to hurt others
- Severe out-of-control behavior that can hurt the teenager or others
- Not eating, throwing up, or using laxatives to lose weight
- Intense worries or fears that get in the way of daily activities
- Extreme difficulty in concentrating or staying still that puts a teenager in physical danger or causes school failure
- Repeated use of drugs or alcohol
- Severe mood swings that cause problems in relationships
- Drastic changes in behavior or personality
I looked at my behavior as a child, and the things my mom and I fought about, and I see four of the eleven symptoms on that list. But I’m wondering why I don’t see any mention of drastic changes in sleep patterns and psychosomatic symptoms (stomach aches, headaches). Does that fall into “behavior”?
For example, my mother and I fought about those two a lot, and the fights started very early (second grade-ish). No one wanted to talk about my mood swings, fears, intense sadness, or changes in personality, especially not me! But almost every day, my mother asked me WHY I couldn’t just go to sleep earlier so that I could “just” get up on time and get to school. I never told her that I was afraid to go or that I was staring at the clock for hours each night trying to sleep. All she knew was that I had a hard time waking up. So that’s what she saw.
Several times a week, I would ask to stay home from school or an after-school activity, or be excused from chores, because of stomach aches and, later, headaches. I don’t remember understanding that I was afraid, and it didn’t occur to me until I was a teenager that my racing heartbeat wasn’t normal. I just knew that I really, REALLY didn’t want to go and that my stomach hurt enough to make me afraid I would throw up. My mom thought I was “faking” being ill, and I can’t say I blame her. She just had no idea what to do! The useless psychologist they took me to said “adjustment disorder” and I thought “What have been having trouble adjusting to for… ever?”
Both very good points Anne-Marie. I also had trouble falling asleep because of anxiety related to school and had stomach aches every day of 2nd grade, so I completely agree that those two areas shouldn’t be overlooked. Thank you!