Mental Health Awareness Across The United States - 1409 Words

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a national initiative to spread awareness to the constituents of the United States. On April 28, 2016, President Obama issued a Proclamation addressing Mental Health Awareness across the United States. He declared: Nearly 44 million American adults, and millions of children, experience mental health conditions each year, including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress. This month, we renew our commitment to ridding our society of the stigma associated with mental illness, encourage those living with mental health conditions to get the help they need, and reaffirm our pledge to ensure those who need help have access to the support, acceptance, and resources†¦show more content†¦Together, we can help everyone get the support they need to recover as they continue along the journey to get well. Mental health is essential to a person’s overall health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined health as: â€Å"The state of complete physical, mental, and social wellbeing, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Child and adolescent mental health problems are at a point of crisis for our nation. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has identified that one out of every ten children or adolescents has a serious mental health problem that interferes with daily functioning, and another 10% have mild to moderate problems and fewer than one in five of these children receive the mental health services they need. SAMHSA asserts that half of adult mental illness begins before the age of 14, and three-fourths before age 24. They go on to state that more than 40% of youth ages 13 to 17 have experienced a behavioral health problem by the time they reach seventh grade. Concluding that suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth ages 15 to 24 after accidents and homicide. The costs of failure to prove adequate services to children and adolescents with serious mental illnesses are well known: high rates of incarceration in juvenile facilities; family disrup tion; social isolation; school truancy and drop out; and