Columbia — May is Mental Health Awareness Month and May 3-9 is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. On Tuesday the City of Columbia held an event to recognize both designations.
The event included information about different organizations working to combat mental health issues in adults and children.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one-in-five children have been diagnosed with a mental, emotional, or behavioral health condition.
“On in every five children has a mental health disorder, but only 20% seek care or specialty treatment,” said Dr. Laine Young-Walker, Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Missouri. “So there’s a large amount of children who have treatable illnesses that are not going recognized or not accessing care.”
Dr. Young-Walker describe the current state of children’s mental health as a mental health crisis.
Mental health is treatable with medication and non-medication management.
“There’s typically a cause behind it,” said Dr. Young-Walker. “Without treatment, then you prolong the illness. During that time, you have someone who is not functioning at their full capability in school, at work, in their home setting. They’re becoming maybe despondent because they’re not seeing an improvement or a change, and you risk thoughts of suicide.”
According to the CDC, in 2024, suicide was the second leading cause of death in children ages 10-14, as well as in teens and young adults ages 15-24.
Dr. Young-Walker provided signs parents and caregivers can be on the lookout for:
Changes in behaviorsChanges in moodWithdrawing from things they typically enjoyAppetite changesSleep changesIncrease in frequency of physical complaintsDecrease in communicationMentioning wanting to dieGiving away items
“Parents can really be monitoring and engaging with their children and ensuring they’re not seeing a change in behavior or some sort of concern, “said Dr. Young-Walker.
More information of resources in Columbia, Boone County and statewide can be found here.
Dr. Young-Walker believes Boone County has a lot of resources for help.
“I think Boone County is probably one of the best counties in the country with the Boone County Children’s Services Board and the money that they’re able to put forth,” said Dr. Young Walker.
However, she believes there is more than can be done.
“Mental health is sometimes undervalued and the prevention of mental health, the things you can do to prevent getting to suicide are not always well-funded,” said Dr. Young-Walker. “We look at Children’s Mental Health for this week in May, but really it needs to be on the mind of everybody, every single day of the week, every single week of the year.”