Weighing The Facts: Children's Mental Health Statistics and Information

Statistics:

Serious emotional disturbances affect 1 in 10 young people.

The onset of major mental illness may occur as early as 7 to 11 years of age.

Estimated: between 118,700 and 186,600 youths in the juvenile justice system have at least one mental disorder.

73% of children in juvenile detention facilities reported having mental health problems with 57% reporting having had prior mental health treatment/hospitalization.

21% of low-income children and youth ages 6 -17 have mental health problems.

Approximately 5% of children were prescribed medication for emotional and behavioral difficulties. Approximately 89% of the %5 were prescribed medication for hyperactivity, concentration, or impulsivity difficulties.

Approximately 2.9 million children (5.1%) were prescribed medication for emotional or behavioral difficulties.

Approximately5.3% (2.9 million) children received treatment for emotional or behavioral difficulties in addition to, or other than, medication.

Approximately 2/3 of all young people with mental health problems do not get the help they need.

Approximately 79% of children with a mental disorder, between the ages of 6 -17 receive no mental health care.

Approximately 20% (1 in 5) of children/adolescents may have a diagnosable mental disorder.

Children with mental disorders are estimated to range from 7.7 million to 12.8 million.

High school students with mental health problems are more likely to fail or drop out of school.

Up to 14% of high school students with mental health problems receive grades consisting of mostly Ds & Fs compared to 7% of children with disabilities.

25%- 44% of high school students with mental health problems will drop out of school.

Approximately 30%-40% of children with ADHD have family member(s)/relatives with ADHD.

ADHD is the most common psychiatric condition for children, affecting approximately 5%-10%.

Approximately 50% of children with ADHD are never diagnosed.

Estimated: 15% - 20% of children with ADHD have "Specific Learning Disability."

Estimated: 50% of children with a learning disability also have ADHD.

Approximately 3.4 of 1,000 children between the ages of 3-10 have autism.

As many as 1 in 10 children may suffer from an anxiety disorder.

A child's chances of having an anxiety disorder are increased if their parents have an anxiety disorder.

Almost a third of 6-12 year old children diagnosed with major depression will, within a few years, develop bipolar disorders.

Approximately 40% of the children & teens in acute psychiatric hospitals suffer from bipolar disorder.

Approximately 1%-6% of school age children have Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD).

ODD is more common in prepubescent boys. After puberty both genders are equally affected.

Schizophrenia is rare in children under the age of 12.

Schizophrenia will affect approximately 1 out of 1,000 adolescents.

As many as 1 in 10 children/adolescents may have conduct disorder.

Conduct disorder affects 11%-4% of children 9-17 years old.

Conduct disorder is more common in boys than girls.

Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for 15 - 24 year olds.

Suicide is the 6th leading cause of death for 5-15 year olds.

Approximately 90% of children who commit suicide have a mental disorder.

50% of children/youth within the child welfare system have mental health problems.

85% of children/ youth in the child welfare system do not receive the mental health services they need.

79% of children who have private health insurance /73% with public health insurance have unmet mental health needs.

1 in every 100-200 adolescent girls are affected by Anorexia.

Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents.

Approximately 1 in 10 cases of Anorexia will lead to death from cardiac arrest, suicide, or starvation.

Approximately 5%-10% of those diagnosed with anorexia or bulimia are male.

Anorexics are up to 10 times more likely to die because of their illness

15% of young US women not diagnosed with an eating disorder display substantially disordered eating behaviors and attitudes.

Estimated: 11% of high school students have been diagnosed with an eating disorder.

The onset of Binge Eating Disorder usually occurs during the late adolescence or in the early twenties.

Facts, Signs and Symptoms for Children:

Resources:

See also:
Adult Mental Health Statistics

Compiled from the following sites:
http://www.nmha.org/go/information/get-info/children-s-mental-health/children-s-mental-health-statistics
http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/resources_for_families/child_and_adolescent_mental_illness_statistics
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=1229 http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db08.pdf
http://www.eatingdisorderinfo.org/Resources/EatingDisordersStatistics.aspx
http://www.nmha.org/ http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_687.html
picture source:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yelnoc/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0