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CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT
By Nikki and Anne Heart ♥ December 5, 2024
*Although we wrote this post together, we have chosen to present the following through Mom’s eyes.
Childhood mental health treatment can be complicated. This I learned first-hand when I began seeking treatment for my daughter when she was only eleven entering middle school.
During this time, she became overwhelmed with the changes in her life as well as the ups and downs of adolescents itself.
Discussing my daughter with a counselor became a challenge. The counselor didn’t see my child as an individual but as a textbook patient and thereby prescribing a textbook medication treatment plan.
From the first visit, I informed my daughter’s counselor that she was easily frustrated and had inability to except change easily or handle emotions.
The counselor needless to say didn’t acknowledge anything I said.
I also mentioned several traits my daughter had. Traits which can clearly identify as obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Again, none of this was taken into consideration. So, how it turned out was she never received the treatment she needed.
Becoming aware of child mental health treatment
In reading a recent newspaper article, I became deeply saddened.
It referred to the limited number of psychiatrists available to treat children with mental health illness.
Leaving the treatment to the child’s pediatrician to prescribe medication.
In some ways the article stated this may be beneficial, since the pediatrician knows the child and health insurance most likely would cover the treatment. Whereas many mental health programs do not except insurance.
Obviously, both of these points are true. But the less obvious is the possibility of eliminating other more important treatment programs such as CBT or DBT programs.
I questioned in the past and still question a child being prescribed medications such as sleeping pills and mental health medications especially as a first resort.
Of course, at times medication is the appropriate treatment for some individuals. However, awareness regarding prescription drugs resulting in increased depression, suicidal thoughts and many other negative effects is extremely important especially when treating children.
Learn about different child mental health treatment programs
For the many years my daughter was treated for her mental health, counseling was very limited. It basically consisted of medication management. Programs such as CBT and DBT were vaguely discussed. When it was mentioned, she was denied going into a program due to insurance reasons.
Over the years, I as well as my daughter have recognized how coping skills and techniques are extremely helpful to your mental health. That medication alone is not a cure. And for some individuals, a prescription drug program can have more harmful effects than positive.
It has to be recognized that without learning coping skills as a child, adulthood can be very difficult.
From the personal experience of my daughter, coping skills were not learned during her treatment program. She never was given the techniques to handle her negative thoughts or her obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Instead, she was given drugs to control them. Which in her case, intensified her symptoms most of the time.
Sources used:
- Newsday, Child Mental Health on LI, published November 30, 2024, by Bart Jones
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Note: all information in “Nikki’s Story” are based on detail journals covering seven years of Nikki’s life on prescription drugs.
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