CHILDRENS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK: MAY 2-8, 2021

CHILDRENS MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS WEEK

                                       May  2021

Childrens mental health awareness week is important. I was pleased to read in a recent newsletter that the  GEAR Parent Network is partnering with the Office of Child and Family Services on Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week May 2-8th, 2021! This year the 2021 theme is “Flip the Script on Mental Health.”

The statistics are pretty sad looking from before the pandemic. Since the pandemic mental health issues are on the rise for all age levels.  The children are really struggling with all of the changes brought to their lives by the pandemic. I mean who isn’t?

We need to bring awareness and education to this now so that we can help these children build resilience. Resilience is not something we are born with. Often you hear “Children are resilient. It will be fine.”   Well not all children are as resilient. All children need adults in their lives to help them develop the tools they need to overcome difficulties and become resilient.

I believe that if we are proactive at preventing mental health issues when the children are young we have a much better chance of helping them overcome. Untreated issues just become worse. Think of depression or mental health issues sort of as a cancer.  It is better to remove a small cancerous bump than to let it build and take over the whole body.

Let’s all work together to bring awareness and education to build a healthy America by not ignoring the mental health issues of our younger generations.