Children Need Early Access to Mental Health Services

In the 2001 National Action Agenda for Children’s Mental Health, the U.S. Surgeon General warned that the nation is facing a public health crisis in caring for children and adolescents with behavioral, psychological and emotional problems.  The report noted that one in ten young people suffer from mental illness severe enough to cause impairment, yet fewer than 20 percent of these children receive treatment in any given year.   Mental Health America cites findings from the “Annual Summary of Vital Statistics” that show a significant increase in youth suicides since 2003.  Suicide rates for youth aged 10 -14 have risen by eight percent

and eleven percent for youth aged 15-19.  Ninety percent of suicides are attributed to a mental illness, most often depression; depression affects one of every eight teens and one in every 33 children.       A landmark study of  National Institute of Mental Health researchers has found that mental illness begins early in life.  Half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by the age of 14 and three quarters have begun by age 24.  NIMH director Thomas Insel, M.D., has stated, “There are many important messages from this study, but none as important as the recognition that mental disorders are the chronic disorders of young people in the United States.”   The study also found that, despite effective treatments, there are long delays – sometimes decades – between the onset of symptoms and when people seek treatment.  Thus, unlike with heart disease or most cancers, young people with mental disorders suffer disability when they are in the prime of life, when they would normally be the most productive.       These pervasive delays in getting treatment tend to occur for nearly all mental disorders.  The median delay is nearly 10 years;  this may be due to the early onset, a fear of therapy, and a lack of access to services.  This is the case in Washington County.  A combination of budget cuts from the state and the soaring burden of paying 40 cents of every dollar billed to Medicaid has left our Washington County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery (MHAR) Board with no discretionary funds.   Simply put, if a Washington County child is not Medicaid eligible or insured, he or she cannot access behavioral health services.  And even if the child is Medicaid eligible or insured, the MHAR Board has no funds to help with services that are not covered by Medicaid or insurance.       While about 80 percent of all people in the United States with a mental illness eventually seek treatment, there are public health implications from such long delays.  Untreated psychiatric disorders can lead to more frequent and more severe episodes, and the individual is less likely to be helped by treatment.  In addition, early-onset mental disorders that are left untreated have been associated with school failure, teenage pregnancy, unstable employment, marital instability and violence.   Dr. Ronald Kessler, Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School, states, “The pattern appears to be that the earlier in life the disorder begins, the slower the individual is to access therapy and the more persistent the illness.  It is unfortunate that those who most need treatment are the least likely to get it.”       At a time when understanding of mental illnesses and their treatments is better than ever, an increased youth suicide rate and a continued pattern of children’s inability to access services is disturbing and unacceptable. On November 4th, the Washington County MHAR Board is asking Washington County citizens to approve a five year, one mill levy that will fund critical care to local children; Washington County is one of only 14 of Ohio’s 88 counties that do not have a mental health levy.  The levy will cost a landowner $17.50 per year for each $50,000 of property value.   As it stands, only one-half of Washington County youth needing mental health services and less than one-fifth needing alcohol or drug addiction services are getting the help they need.  For more information about this critical levy, call the Washington County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery Board at (740) 374-6990.