Today is Children's Mental Health Awareness Day

Below is the text from an email I received today from MACHMH

May 6th is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day! MACMH joins with all of our national and statewide partners in promoting positive infant, child and youth development, resilience, recovery, and the transformation of mental health services for infants, children and youth with mental health needs and their families.

Consider these facts:
Emotional or mental health problems can develop at any age. Many children have mental health issues that can seriously affect aspects of their lives:
• Studies estimate that mental health problems affect one in five young people at any given time.
• Many children and adolescents experience emotional disorders, such as depression, anxiety and attention-deficit, conduct and eating disorders.
• An estimated 91,000 children in Minnesota need treatment for emotional disturbances.
• In Minnesota, 9 percent of school-age children and 5 percent of preschool children have a serious emotional disturbance, which is a mental health problem that has become longer lasting and interferes significantly with the child’s functioning at home and in school.
• Children and youth with a serious emotional disturbance experience risks related to reduced graduation rates, increased involvement with juvenile corrections and more substance abuse problems. (Minnesota Department of Human Services)

This year marks a first-time national focus on the topic of early childhood, increasing awareness of the importance positive mental health has on a child's healthy development, with the key message that "positive mental health is essential to healthy development, prenatally to young adulthood."

Please consider taking the following actions:
• Promote mental health in every environment that impacts child development, beginning prenatally.
• Nurture the social and emotional well-being of children from birth.
• Look for and discuss milestones of a child's social and emotional development from birth.

MACMH & MAIECMH are dedicated to ending the stigma associated with Children's Mental Health. After all we all want healthy children.

Minnesota Association for Children's Mental Health • MACMH
165 Western Avenue N, Suite 2
Saint Paul, MN 55102
Phone: 651-644-7333
1-800-528-4511
Fax: 651-644-7391

www.macmh.org