Brain Health Newsletter:
An Introduction to Brain Health
Parents,
Did you know that early support and help for mental health challenges can improve quality of life and change lives? Because these are important conversations that need to be had, yet we understand they can also be difficult, we want to periodically share resources with you to help in the education about your child's brain health. These periodical newsletters will be shared out in small chunks and cover topics ranging from suicide prevention to implications of screen time, self-care, and much more. These newsletters were made possible through our partnership with the MindPeace and 1N5 organizations. We hope you take the time to read these newsletters and have these conversations with your child.
Facts & Statistics
Thomas Insel, Director of National Institute of Mental Health, believes that the terms “mental disorders” and “behavioral disorders” hinder the progress being made to better understand and approach these illnesses. Insel suggests that these disorders be referred to as brain disorders.
50% of brain disorders will have onset by age 14 and 75% by age 24. Surprisingly, behavior is actually the last thing to change in the course of these disorders (TED Talk, 2013).
Neuropsychiatric disorders are the leading cause of disability in the U.S., followed by cardiovascular and circulatory diseases and neoplasms (NIMH, 2010).
“Just over 20 percent, or 1 in 5 children, either currently, or at some point during their life, have had a seriously debilitating mental disorder,” (NIMH, 2010).
According to the Surgeon General, “mental disorders and mental health problems appear in families of all social classes and of all backgrounds. No one is immune.” (Satcher, 2000).
General Warning Signs of a Brain Disorder
Many parents ask, “when is my child showing typical signs of childhood development/teenage development versus warning signs of a larger problem?” This four minute clip from Dr. Sorter, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital explain the difference.
- Excessive worrying or fear
- Feeling excessively sad or low
- Confused thinking or problems concentrating and learning
- Extreme mood changes, including uncontrollable “highs” or feelings of euphoria
- Prolonged or strong feelings of irritability or anger
- Avoiding friends and social activities
- Changes in sleeping habits or feeling tired and low energy
- Changes in eating habits such as increased hunger or lack of appetite
- Difficulty perceiving reality (delusions or hallucinations, in which a person experiences and senses things that don't exist in objective reality)
- Inability to perceive changes in one’s own feelings, behavior or personality (”lack of insight” or
anosognosia)
- Abuse of substances like alcohol or drugs
- Multiple physical ailments without obvious causes (such as headaches, stomach aches, vague and ongoing “aches and pains”)
- Thinking about suicide
- Inability to carry out daily activities or handle daily problems and stress
- An intense fear of weight gain or concern with appearance (mostly in adolescents)
Be aware of frequency and intensity of warning signs to assess if the situation is a crisis. If this is a crisis, contact your county’s crisis hotline which can be found at http://mindpeacecincinnati.com/suicide/
Resources for Parents
Today, thanks to better early detection, there are 63% fewer deaths from heart disease than there were just a few decades ago. Dr. Thomas Insel, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, wonders: Could we do the same for depression and schizophrenia? Check out Dr. Insel’s Ted Talk to learn more about Brain Disorders
Experts recommend having an honest conversation about brain health with your
kids and help create safe spaces to reach out. Here are some resources on how to start the conversation with your children.
If you or someone you know is looking for local, professional mental health
help, guide them to http://mindpeacecincinnati.com/ where they can search for provider by demographic, area of need, and insurance accepted.
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