Predator Awareness

Mental health is how you think, feel, and act when facing life’s situations. It affects how you handle stress, relate to one another, and make decisions. Mental health influences the ways you look at yourself, your life, and others in your life. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life.

All aspects of our lives are affected by our mental health. Caring for and protecting your children is your obligation as their parent and it is critical to their daily lives and their independence.

Children can have mental health disorders (illness) that interfere with the way they think, feel, and act. If left untreated, these mental health disorders can result in school failure, family conflicts, drug abuse, violence, and even suicide.

Studies show that at least one in five children have a mental illness (health disorder.) Mental health disorders in children are caused mostly by biology and environment.

Examples of biological causes are genetics, chemical imbalances in the body, or damage to the central nervous system, such as a head injury.

Many environmental factors also put young people at risk for developing mental health disorders. Examples include:

• Exposure to environmental toxins
• Exposure to violence
• Stress related to chronic poverty, discrimination, or other serious hardships
• The loss of important people through death, divorce, or broken relationships

A variety of signs may point to mental illness or serious emotional disturbances in children. Pay attention to these warning signs:

A child troubled by feeling:

• Sad and hopeless for no reason, and these do not go away
• Very angry most of the time and crying a lot or overreacting to things
• Worthless or guilty often
• Anxious or worried often
• Unable to get over a loss or death of someone important
• Extremely fearful or having unexplained fears
• Constantly concerned about physical problems or physical appearance
• Frightened that their mind either is controlled or is out of control

A child experiences big changes:

• Showing declining performance in school
• Losing interest in things once enjoyed
• Experiencing unexplained changes in sleeping or eating patterns
• Avoiding friends or family and wanting to be alone all the time
• Daydreaming too much and not completing tasks
• Feeling life is too hard to handle
• Hearing voices that cannot be explained
• Experiencing suicidal thoughts

A child experiences:

• Poor concentration and is unable to think straight or make up their mind
• An inability to sit still or focus attention
• Worry about being harmed, hurting others, or doing something “bad”
• A need to wash, clean things, or perform certain routines hundreds of times a day, in order to avoid an unsubstantiated danger
• Racing thoughts that are almost too fast to follow
• Persistent nightmares

A child behaves in ways that cause problems:

• Using alcohol or other drugs
• Eating large amounts of food and then purging, or abusing laxatives, to avoid weight gain
• Dieting and/or exercising obsessively
• Violating the rights of others or constantly breaking the law without regard for other people
• Setting fires
• Doing things that can be life threatening
• Killing animals

Finding the Right Services for Your Child is Critical!
Some children diagnosed with severe mental health disorders may be eligible for comprehensive and community-based services through systems of care. Systems of care help children with serious emotional disturbances and their families cope with the challenges of difficult mental, emotional, or behavioral problems. To learn more about systems of care visit the Center’s web site at http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov

It is critical that you find the right help for your child. Don’t give up, keep digging.

Mental Illness: Not Just a Passing Phase
Predator’s Look of Delight
Dealing With a Psychopath