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Children, mental health, and stigma: Promising initiatives
Author(s) -
Walters Anne
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
the brown university child and adolescent behavior letter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1556-7575
pISSN - 1058-1073
DOI - 10.1002/cbl.30330
Subject(s) - shame , stigma (botany) , mental health , mental illness , psychiatry , psychology , affect (linguistics) , identification (biology) , clinical psychology , medicine , social psychology , botany , communication , biology
Just over 20% of children, either currently or at some point in their life, have a seriously debilitating mental health disorder, and half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And yet, just over half of these children received treatment. One of the barriers to seeking treatment is the fear of others finding out, or the stigma of being identified as having a mental illness. Despite progress in identification and treatment, there is still enough stigma about mental illness to affect the likelihood that children or their families will seek help, and enough to ensure that children experience shame at being perceived as “less than” their peers.