Impact of Mental Health Disorders in Childhood and Adolescence

Among the verbalize objectives of the sun-loving People 2010, a airfield, multi-stakeholder program that aims to improve the over-all wellness of the American people through health promotion and disease stripe is to scatter treatment services for affable health disorders. In set abouticular, the program is aimed at increasing the proportion of barbarianren with mental health problems who receive treatment by enhancing the choke network of modify children and their families and up(a) their retrieve to mental health and another(prenominal) social services.The inclusion of mental health disorders as a priority semipublic health issue that needs to be address stems from the acknowledgement of the gravity of the social and sparing cost of mental health problems to families and communities. More importantly, the inclusion of mental health as a national health priority reflects a significant shift in placement in public health policy.Indeed, mental health disorders h ave affected a significant portion of the American population for a coherent time. Estimates from the United States Department of Health and human being Services reveal that mental health problems affect 20 portion of the population annually. Likewise, the risk of create mental health disorders cuts across age, ethnicity, gender, education, and socio-economic status, making children almost as open as older people to mental health problems.It is estimated, for instance, that 20 percent of children and adolescents within the 9 to 17 age group ar potential to acquaint symptoms of mental health disturbances such as major depression, schizophrenia, and perplexity disorders with 5 percent of the cases being severe and debilitating to childrens blueprint growth and development. (USDHHS (a), 2000)Clearly, the meet of mental health disorders on children and adolescents well-being is grave. Children and adolescents with mental, behavioral, and stirred up disorders unremarkably per form poorly in school and are to a greater extent vulnerable to alcohol and drug addiction. As in adults, mental health disorders besides increase the risk of children and adolescents towards violent and aggressive behavior and suicide. In the 1999 alone, the suicide rate among children and adolescents was as high as 2.6 percent. (USDHHS (b), 2000)Unfortunately, mental health disorders have been poorly understood which usually deprives those affected of access to essential treatment and services. It is worth noting, for instance, that only 27 percent of children and adolescents afflicted with mental health disorders avail of treatments, most of them receiving help mainly from in-school facilities and services. (USDHHS (b), 2000) Prevailing health policies have largely ignored the fact that mental health problems usually begin during childhood and adolescence and may have a lifelong continue on affected children. In the same manner, the public and social costs of mental health diso rders have been largely ignored or underrecognized.On the other hand, mental health disorders have been shown to have a tremendous furbish up on public and private health spending, amounting to $69 Billion in diagnosis and treatment expenses. (USDHHS (b), 2000) Majority of these costs were shouldered by public funds while the remainder were paid for through private spending. The figures could be higher when the indirect costs of mental health illness on productivity, damages to property, criminal justice and litigation, and insurance claims are accounted for.Likewise, mental health disorders also place a tremendous strain on the economic lives of families and communities. A study done by Busch and Barry (2007) aimed at determining the impaction of childhood mental disorders on the financial well-being of families with afflicted children reveals that the damage functioning of children with mental disturbances affects parents work productivity and feel for for or arrange for the anxiety of the child often leads to woolly-headed family income in terms of lost work hours. (p. 1090) The researchers contend that caring for children with mental health disorders are as costly as caring with children with other chronic illnesses. (p. 1088)Busch and Barrys study was conducted by analyzing the responses of respondents to the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care require (NS-CSHCN) to compare the effects of childrens mental health disorders on the familys economy to the economic impact on the family of children requiring special health cope needs. (p. 1089)To this end, the researchers utilized propensity-score matching and logistic regression in controlling for differences mingled with children with mental health disorders and the general population sample. Results of study supported their feud that caring for children with mental health disorders was a cause of financial slant especially for those who were privately insured. (p. 1089) Results o f the study also showed that caring for a child with mental health disorder severely limited the labor-market participation of parents, change magnitude the time they spent caring for or arranging for childcare, and consequently lessen the time parents spent on other activities. (p. 1091)Thus, the authors encourage the implementation of programs and policies aimed at supporting the families of children with mental health disorders to alleviate the adverse economic outcomes brought most by heavy costs incurred from intensive and extensive child care and treatment requirements. (p. 1095) Such programs could include the elimination of mental health restrictions in private insurance policies that prevent or reduce childrens access to mental health services and treatment that increases the risk of prolonged and chronic dis cleverness. Another suggestion made by the authors is extending financial assistance to families caring for children with mental disorders that would help defray s ome of the costs involved in the medical care of such children. (p. 1094)It is clear that the social and economic impact of mental health disorders should be a great concern for the breast feeding community. Nurses, who are at the frontline of health service delivery, play an important image in health promotion and disease prevention. As a vituperative health workforce, nurses support in the implementation of mental health programs is critical in meeting health objectives and achieving positive health outcomes. Nurses have the exponent to contribute to the promotion of mental health through a renew focus on patient-centered care that takes into account the holistic dimensions of health and places tension on early sleuthing and diagnosis of mental health problems.Nurses are an important part of the support network of families and communities with respect to the provision of cultivation and other forms of resources. Given that mental health disorders are preventable and treata ble diseases, the ability of nurses to provide a timely referral for treatment services and intervention for children and adolescents who exhibit the symptoms of mental, behavioral, and emotional disturbance would be a significant factor in improving the health and lives of children and adolescents. A significant improvement in the detection of mental health disorders, for instance, can be achieved with adequate attention on the part of nurses on the cognitive, emotional, and psychological aspects of their patients.Therefore, the nursing community, as an important part of the health workforce, must be conscious of the prevalence of mental health disorders and be sufficiently informed about their role in the prevention and treatment of these problems. This way, nurses will be able to provide the needed support to reduce the economic and social costs of mental health-related diseases. Nurses will also be fully prepared to meet the exacting challenge of improving the health and quality of life of the individuals they serve.Works CitedBusch, Susan H. & Colleen L. Barry (2007). Mental health disorders in childhood Assessing the burden on families. Health Affairs, 26(4) 1088-1095.United States Department of Health and Human Services (a) (2000). Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators. Retrieved 21 April 2008 from the Healthy People 2010 website https//www.healthypeople.gov/Document/html/uih/uih_bw/uih_4.htmmentalhealth