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We either invest in children's mental health now – or
pay a steep price later
Youth violence, particularly in Toronto, has been
grabbing headlines. Governments and the public fret about solutions. As
a partial remedy, the Ontario government has identified two key
priorities for youth, to ensure this province's long-term prosperity and
competitiveness: education, and access to timely and effective health
care. There is a sense that progress is possible. But children's mental
health is never mentioned.
The current Ontario government is the first in many
years to invest new money in children's mental health, but more is
needed. The stigma that attaches to mental health among adults ripples,
with harsh effect. Every day, 120 young people attempt suicide in
Ontario; every week, on average, two or three succeed. Youth violence,
dropout levels, drug addiction, crime and high-risk lifestyles are
directly related to mental and emotional distress. One in five children
and youth between the ages of 3 and 17 suffers from a treatable
mental-health problem. Suicide is second only to accidents as the
leading cause of death in young people 10 to 17.
Children all around us are trying to cope with extreme
situations - at school, on the playground, at home. Physical and
emotional abuse are often unnoticed and untreated.
Why? Because there is a dearth of accessible
mental-health professionals.
Why? Money.
In economic terms, every self-sufficient and
emotionally stable adult who engages in the community and society is an
economic and social engine that fuels all aspects of the economy and
community. Measuring the true economic cost of mental illness and
emotional distress is impossible. But the toll it takes on individuals,
families and communities is more apparent every day. Some suffering is
done in silence, and some effects are seen daily on the six o'clock
news. Many parents struggle with stigma that saturates our perception of
mental-health problems. Many don't know how to access help, or, when
they figure it out, are told help is not available: "We're sorry. We
can't treat your suicidal child, because we are overwhelmed with cases.
Take a number."
Help should be available when symptoms present - e.g.
when the child refuses to go to school, or substance abuse. No parent,
or child, should have to wait until a crisis presents. No child should
be pushed to the brink of despair because they have to wait a year for
help. Childhood mental-health crises require triage, immediate and
effective intervention. Telling an eight-year-old, who turns out to be
an incest victim, that she must wait eight to 12 months to be assessed
by a professional is bad medicine, bad social policy, and bad economics.
A small investment in children's mental health reaps incalculable
benefits. Clinical experience has demonstrated that effective
intervention has a profound positive effect on children, one that will
have an impact on the course of their lives. It prevents chronic
mental-health challenges, and gives society and the individual the
gratification of a productive life.
Ontario's child and youth workers, social workers,
early childhood educators, psychiatrists and psychologists have a tough
job. These professionals maintain a passion and a drive to keep working
and advocating for their clients and their communities. They adapt and
innovate, making do with resources that are diminishing in real terms
while the need for services grows. They give the children a voice and
hope. This week also presents an opportunity to shed light on children's
mental-health centres across Ontario. These community-based and
community-managed centres should be celebrated as models of common
sense, effective delivery, clinical excellence and good fiscal
management. They are places where children, youth and families in
trouble meet competent professionals who can help. Boards of directors
are made up of individuals from the community, who work co-operatively
with government. The influence and skill they bring to this work is
making a difference.
Having hit the wall financially through periods of
cuts and freezes in provincial funding, many centres reached out to the
community for financial help. The results are encouraging but
inadequate. Still, a material portion of service delivered today is
funded by individuals, foundations and corporations. This precarious
sustainable-funding model is a significant management challenge, but a
welcome boost to short-term capacity. In an ideal world, such funds
would be gravy - facilitating innovation and research - but reality is
far from ideal. Common sense demands that we bridge the gap.
Brigid Murphy chairs the board of the George Hull
Centre for Children and Families, a children's mental-health centre in
Toronto.
Brigid Murphy
11 May 2006
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