National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day - May 6
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- Category: Helping Hands Blog
- Created: Wednesday, 05 May 2010 19:00
- Last Updated: Friday, 28 October 2011 15:39
- Published: Wednesday, 05 May 2010 19:00
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National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day - May 6
May 6 is national Children's Mental Health Awareness Day. The mission of Children's Mental Health Awareness Day is to increase the understanding of mental health needs of children and their families, and raise awareness of effective programs for children's mental health needs. Colleagues with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) remind us of the importance of raising awareness of mental illness in children: Many mental disorders have their beginnings in childhood or adolescence. The National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey found that 13 percent of children ages 8 to 15 had at lease one mental disorder, a rate that is comparable to diabetes, asthema, and other diseases of childhood. Yet, mental disorders often go undiagnosed and untreated for years. Awareness Day efforts will encourage the following actions:
- Integrate mental health into every environment that impacts child development from birth
- 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