Illness isn’t always physical, and unfortunately kids are not immune.
A lot of people have trouble accepting that mental illness can affect children and teenagers, but Dr Steven Dixon, Executive Director of Behavior Health Services at PRMC, says it is very real and he sees similar things in children that you would expect in adults, primarily depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and other adjustment type disorders.
Unlike adults, children may not know how to label their emotions during times of transition, such as moving to a new school or neighborhood, and the stress can manifest as depression, anxiety or in the form of behavioral problems. Dixon says that in PRMC’s catchment area alone, approximately 27,000 people experience clinical depression .
He says that society is getting better at erasing the stigma attached to mental illness. However, some still see it as a weakness that can be solved by simply toughening up and pulling yourself together, but he stresses that this way of thinking could not be further from the truth.
Dixon likens mental illness to other serious diseases, like diabetes in that someone with diabetes would never be told to, “buck up,” and handle it on their own. Both illnesses are very real and require professional medical care.
Dixon says there are warning signs for parents to look for, such as changes in behavior, increased irritability, increased clinging or whining, increased refusal to attend school or lack of interest in previously liked activities.
He says that parents know their children best and can tell when they are just being goofy as opposed to behaving completely different. He stresses that children go through wide ranges of emotion all the time, but what parents should watch for is prolonged periods of noticeable change.
PRMC recently opened a child and adolescent behavioral outpatient unit that offers complete assessments and treatment planning. They have licensed behavioral health professionals that provide therapy, as well as two child psychiatrists that provide medication management.
The new unit was named after the Moore’s, a well known philanthropic family in the area. They saw the importance and need to grow behavioral services on the eastern shore and took action.
Dixon says that parents can help change the perception children have of mental illness by focusing on others strengths, as opposed to traits that may set them apart or be seen in negative ways.
His message to families of children struggling with mental health issues is to not wait and to seek help as soon as possible. There is no shame in asking for the help your child deserves to get.
