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Post by Esiet Udota on Feb 25, 2016 11:09:27 GMT -4
Early recognition of symptoms is very essential in the mental health issues of children. This would allow the appropriate intervention to be established in a timely manner. I definitely concur with what the Mental Health Foundation has stated. A family that “gets on most of the time” was expressed as an essential for the adequate mental well-being of a child and to also prevent issues in adulthood. However, I feel that genetic factors alongside environmental factors influence the mental well-being of a child. I believe that a child with a strong family history of mental health issues poses a great risk of developing such issues if preventive measures are not taken. I like the advent of a “Symptom Checker” mentioned in the article. With a statistics of 50% of adult mental health issue beginning before age 15, this would definitely help in early detection and proper application of treatment measures. I believe that when parents know exactly what to look out for in their children, they are better able to get the children the appropriate help. I know of a family whereby the parents observed certain characteristics in one of their children. They sought help for the child simply because another child of theirs exhibited similar symptoms, years prior, and was given a diagnosis. This diagnosis led to the child receiving the proper treatment needed.
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Post by Holly Musgrove on Feb 25, 2016 12:20:31 GMT -4
It is not surprising that childhood adversity has been shown to play a large role in the development of mental health disorders in adulthood. Children are molded by their experiences, both good and bad, and negative events such as family separation or divorce, abuse, bereavement, and bullying can take a toll on one's psychological well-being. According to this article, fifty percent of health issues are estimated to begin before age fifteen, and disorders in childhood tend to lead to more severe and multiplying disorders in adulthood. This article addresses the importance of early recognition of behavioral issues in children in order to prevent this from occurring. Children struggling may not show the ‘typical’ signs, so as (future) healthcare providers it is our job to recognize potential signs such as oppositional or non-compliant behavior, as well as educate parents and teachers to do so as well. While screening children is important for early intervention, I also believe that mentoring programs such as Big Brother/Big Sister can have a positive influence on the mental health in children that are facing adversity at home and such programs should be promoted in the community.
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Post by Eme Umana on Feb 25, 2016 12:29:50 GMT -4
This explains why early prevention of mental problem is very necessary. Seeing that a lot of cases has its root from childhood physical and emotional abuse. Parents need to study their children to know when something goes wrong. Also teachers should look out for the wellbeing of a child. Like it's stated in the article by Mental Health Foundation, ... having a family that ''gets on most of the time." is the key factor in preventing issues in mental health and adulthood. The solution starts with everyone being aware and learning how to understand each other particularly children. Encouraging children to be themselves with good guidance. Keeping a child away from a dramatic scene or any position that would trigger bad memories and behaviour in the nearest future.
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Post by Amir Rafidia on Feb 25, 2016 16:08:39 GMT -4
What is clear to me after reading this article is that children's mental health is constantly neglected in today's society. The stability in a child's household is essential and what is commonly seen in adults with mental health disorders is that they were raised in an unstable household environment. I truly believe that parents along with teachers play a pivotal role in ensuring that a child's mental health is not negatively impacted by their (parents and teachers) actions. As a child I was raised in a loving, caring household and my parents clearly understood that their actions, whether positive or negative, would have a clear impact on my siblings as well as myself. However, in elementary school I was labeled as the "trouble maker" and the child that "is always disturbing the classroom environment". This discordance between my household and school environments could have sent me down a path where I possibly could have been one of the adults described in this article. I believe at the time that my careless personality might have saved me from turning into an adult with mental health issues. What I have come to realize is that a lot of teachers/mentors display the splitting defense mechanism where they label a child as "all good" or "all bad" without even trying to understand why they are acting the way that they do. This was clearly evident in this article and I do not think that teachers/mentors in todays society realize that. Children do not understand how to demonstrate their emotions in a conducive manner and instead tend to lash out or suppress their feelings. I believe that this turbulent course is what is responsible for a lot of adults with mental health disorders in todays society. So what is the solution? CONSTANT COMMUNICATION with children, for example stopping to take a minute and ask why a child feels/acts a certain way before judging and classifying them as something that they are not. Without communication with our children, the future of their mental health is in great jeopardy and as future Physicians we must be the ones to educate parents, teachers etc. about this.
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Post by Sandra Frimpong on Feb 25, 2016 16:21:05 GMT -4
It is rather unfortunate that children who are abused tend to keep quiet about their abuse be it physical or emotional abuse and allow it to eat them up until they can no longer contain. I don’t mean to pass blame here but I do believe that most of the time, parents of abused children are more concern with themselves and their lifestyle that they forget to give the children the attention they deserve. I think parents should keep a close eye on their children and the trend of behaviors they portray at home as well as the comments their teachers make about their behaviors at school in order to be able to know when something seems off about the child. I believe If many parents of abused children were to stand up for their children when they are bold enough to tell them if something has gone wrong, rather than doubting them, these children wouldn’t grow up with so many mental problems. I believe teachers should also take a part in reducing these problems by not eagerly pushing the “bad students” out to alternative school or other behavioral schools. They have to try their best to help the student fit in because the more you push the student out labeling them a certain way, it begins to have effect on the child.
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Post by daniellereid on Feb 25, 2016 17:34:45 GMT -4
The article reminded me a lot of what one of my friends, who is in public health, often says is one of their main points: Prevention is primary. This means that a major focus is to take steps that would prevent certain diseases from happening if possible. We can look at common issues such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. As we know how impressionable children can be and how people eventually grow to become set in their ways and often do not change their behaviors (or if they do, not easily), we have to remember the mental health aspect of it. It is fairly commonly realized how fragile the human body can be in a physical sense. But, there is still this stigma in society with regards to mental health. If our bodies can be so easily bruised or damage, does it not make sense to think that our mental state can be as well? Thus, like how we care for the physical health of children and have taken steps to help prevent certain diseases or any sort of harm with vaccines, car seats, helmets, etc., we have to remember how much their well-being also includes their minds. As noted in the article, it is estimated that 50% of adult mental issues begin before the age of 15. This is a very large number and illustrates how important is for society to move towards taking more preventative measures to lower that statistic. If the stigma of mental health issues were somehow lowered or eliminated in our society and parents, family, teachers, friends, etc., were more educated and professionals were allowed more opportunities to observe/evaluate the children, perhaps this could help.
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Post by Prithvi Mavuri on Feb 25, 2016 17:50:22 GMT -4
The importance of mental health, let alone a childs mental health is a topic that has only recently been scrutinized. So when it comes to the parents and educators who play a significant role in the childs upbringing and learning, a majority of them are in the dark when it comes to childrens mental health and the effects it can have. Only recently have we been able to collect the data and see the correlations between childhood occurences and adult mental health conditions. As a result, child psychiatry shouldn’t just be exclusively taught to the counselors or left as a requisite course to those considering becoming a teacher. Child psychiatry or childrens mental health needs to have more of a presence in the form of workshops or information sessions among educators and parents. If more programs like these are implemented, educators and parents are more aware of signs of mental health issues that could be affecting the young impressionable minds at a very young age.
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Post by Sagar Kulkarni on Feb 25, 2016 18:00:32 GMT -4
This article brings to light the importance of addressing issues at their earliest in childhood mental health. It is a difficult subject to criticize simply due to its nature, but the current state of affairs as mentioned by the article of how it is now a punitive approach instead of a pastoral approach. Educators, only second to the family are a cornerstone in the mental health maintenance of children. This theory should also be continued into the family's view as well as they will be the best to assess the status of their child's health. Simply put it should be a constructive approach when it comes to the mental health of children instead of now when it is more punitive and seen in hindsight.
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Post by Sanam Mirza on Feb 25, 2016 18:48:27 GMT -4
This article is interesting because it looks at how children react to problems in life. Earlier this week I worked on a case analysis that looked at how trauma or ideas of trauma lead to PTSD that can eventually lead to Borderline Personality Disorder in children when they reach adulthood. The link between PTSD and Borderline Personality disorder is a very persistent trend that is beginning to be explored. On top of this a new distinction is starting to emerge that is called Compelx PTSD that is yet to be included in the DSM manuals but soon may. CPTSD looks at how Borderline personality disorder can emerge due to trauma associated in childhood. Children who have been traumatized or abused are at higher risk. It’s a tragedy that is a sad truth and not yet totally understood. This article shows how kids are very vulnerable and that not creating a safe environment for them leads to future mental health issues. Prevention would be the key but yet we simply turn away when we expect kids to face traumatic events and say “well that’s life, you will adapt to it.” And at exactly what age do these traumatic events become ok to force upon a person where we feel they are old enough to handle it? 10? 15? 18? Regardless of what age the traumatic events occur, the rest of a persons life is fraught with mental health issues. This article highlights individuals like Sarah who simply get diagnosed with more and more mental health issues such as depression, borderline personality disorder ect..that all may be stemming from repressed childhood trauma. The key would be to catch it early and prevent but it would be on the part of the caregivers to be actively searching and looking out for kids. For examples, Sarahs mother not seeing their her daughter was being abused by her boyfriend, if she had prevented maybe Sarah would have had a different story.
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Post by Hamed Mouseghy on Feb 26, 2016 3:50:50 GMT -4
I used the symptom checker that they had provided as I recalled a friend of mine when I was in the 1st grade. I perhaps do not have enough information on him, however I can see how a parent can greatly benefit from a simple tool such as this one. This is of course not a diagnosis, however it will push parents to look for signs that something is not going well. Behavioral problems, if identified in earlier years can greatly benefit children such that they don’t get worse. I grew up in Germany and there I would see my pediatric physician for antihistamine shots for my severe allergies as well as asthma. I recall my physician often asking me if everything was well at home and in school. These simple questions can go a long way of identifying problem areas in early childhood. Young minds are malleable and we should strive to make sure that we educate parents in seeing the signs of early childhood disorders, which could worsen in the future.
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Post by Ajibola Babatunde on Nov 28, 2016 17:49:01 GMT -4
The environment an individual finds he or herself in matters a lot, it either affects us positively or negatively, the early stage of an individual gets to affect that individual for the rest of their lives. Mental issues or disorders that affects a child start from the environment the child finds himself or herself, the kind of parents, and some factors in which some people believe it to be norms and tradition. A child gets abused when the child has no opinion or objections to whatever happens to him or her. Some traditions allow abuse of children in which they name it as customs and traditions eg, the child-marriage, child labour etc. This process continues and has become a tradition to some individuals.
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