Mental Health Services

Options For Children With Mental Illnesses

It is difficult enough when an adult has a mental illness. Treatment must be obtained; counseling and prescriptions need to be purchased. It is even more difficult when a child suffers.

“One in every ten children and adolescents suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause some level of impairment,” (www.surgeongeneral.gov) and yet only one in every five of those children actually receives the specialty mental health services they need.  The struggle of parents to not only provide food, shelter, and clothing for their children, but to also provide mental health services as needed is astonishing. These days, with a double-income middle class, the actual time and effort to take a child to counseling or to provide the prescriptions needed are very expensive.

Thanks in part to the United States Surgeon General and other private organizations, children’s mental illness concerns are not as stigmatized as they once were. Here are the most common options for treatment:

Inpatient – Various facilities across the nation offer inpatient mental health treatment for children. Ages range by program, usually starting as young as six, and most go through age 17 to 19. A majority of these facilities offer educational services as well, so if your child needs to go to an inpatient facility for eight to ten months, they will not fall behind in their education. Some treatment facilities actually offer transportation for home visits, to ease the burden for the parents trying to help their children. If you are interested in these types of services, check out www.nexustreatment.org and www.brookdale.edu, among others. Don’t forget to contact your local hospital association to see if there are residential treatment or inpatient facilities in your area.

Outpatient – There are plenty of psychiatrists and psychologists available in all areas of the country, and you should be able to find a provider to fit your child’s needs. And don’t forget to check out local Health and Human Services offices to see if counselors are available specializing in children’s mental health.

Intensive Outpatient – This is a cross between the first two options. Intensive outpatient services are usually four to eight hours a day, in a time-limited group or individual setting. It offers more concentrated services than regular outpatient, but does not disrupt the lifestyle of the child. This type of care is also believed to be more beneficial, because the families are more involved in the course of treatment.

Don’t be ashamed to ask for help. Getting help for your children is the best thing you can do for them. It will help them by teaching them to cope with the issues they are dealing with, and teach them techniques to assist them in the future.

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