By Urara Nagashima, TELL intern

May 11th is National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day (CMHAD). CMHAD is an annual event that occurs on the Thursday of the first full week of May. CMHAD seeks to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health and show that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development.

According to data from the CDC, one in six children between the ages of two and eight has a mental or behavioral disorder in the United States. In Japan, according to a September 2020 UNICEF report (as cited in The Japan Times), the mental well-being of children is the second-worst among 38 developed and emerging countries due to poor life satisfaction and the high frequency of suicide, and one in five children in Japan is said to have a mental health problem. The healthy development of children is crucial to the future well-being of any society. Children with serious mental illness and severe emotional disturbance and their families need fulfilling care and treatment to cope with the situation. 

Help us to raise awareness of children’s mental health. TELL provides a variety of tools for families and individuals living with mental or behavioral disorders. These professionals include therapists who offer therapy and evaluations for kids and young adults with difficulties, as well as psychiatrists who can recommend therapies to manage some symptoms of children’s psychological disorders. Along with regular lectures and seminars for parents and educators through the Exceptional Parenting Program, we also provide a program called Lifeline School Awareness, and facilitate discussions about the many reasons that a young person may contact the Lifeline.

Reference:

Data and Statistics on Children’s Mental Health/CDC

https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/data.html

Mental health of Japanese kids nearly worst among rich nations, UNICEF says/The Japan Times

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/09/03/national/japanese-kids-mental-health/