How Common Is Mental Illness Among Children and Is It Being Properly Treated?

How Common Is Mental Illness Among Children and Is It Being Properly Treated? (1:11)

One out of five children or teens in the United States suffers from a psychiatric disorder. In this video, HealthMaker Harold Koplewicz, MD, says that what's even more upsetting is that less than half these kids will get any kind of help.

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One out of five children or teenagers in the United States, suffers from a psychiatric disorder, and even more upsetting is that less that 50% of them get any help whatsoever I think there are three major reasons why so many children who have psychiatric disorders do not receive any help, first and foremost is that there is a shame of having a trial or being a child who has these disorders, there is a lot of myths and misconceptions surrounding psychiatric illness.

Secondly there aren't enough practitioners in this nation with 15 million children and teens with this disorders, we only have 7500 practicing child psychiatrists and last our insurance does not really work as effectively for psychiatric illness as it does for physical illness.

In fact this nation doesn't treat diseases above the neck with the same kind of rigor, the same kind of expect the same kind of funding that it does for diseases below the neck.