May 10th is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. Activities are going on all over the country to advocate for the mental health needs of our children because schools and communities have seen a significant rise in mental health diagnoses and issues with our children and their families.
Trauma is the theme of the 2018 SAMHSA-sponsored (U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration) Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day on May 10th.
The virtual town hall, “Partnering for Health and Hope Following Trauma,” focuses on taking an integrated health approach to support children, youth, and young adults who have experienced trauma. The goal of Awareness Days, in general, was “to raise awareness about the importance of children’s mental health and to show that positive mental health is essential to a child’s healthy development from birth.”
The event was live streamed from Washington, DC via NBC4 and sister stations and Telemundo stations. The event was opened for questions and comments from those attending in person as well as from the national virtual audience. Individuals and groups (e.g., small and large organizations and communities) were encouraged to participate.
Put our children on the national radar for mental health care
Events like this are a great way to put our children back on the national radar and lift them to a place of significance in our society. In many ways, they have been neglected in the national conversation about their needs. Mental health is an area where intervention can prevent regression into more serious conditions.
I appreciate our nation will take a month and a day to focus on this vital issue. Yet, there needs to be so much more.
It is why Lakeside is so vitally involved with trauma training for professionals who deal with children impacted by trauma and who are at great risk for a set of devastating emotional and relational consequences.
I hope you will celebrate the children in your life.
Please remember those children who continue to struggle with mental health issues. We need to advocate and protect them as they attempt to overcome some significant obstacles in life to grow into healthy and productive adults.
Gerry Vassar, President/CEO
