A young person’s brain develops until the age of 25 and during this time children and adolescents acquire cognitive and emotional skills that shape their future mental health. They learn to manage emotions, develop healthy sleeping patterns, and learn social and problem-solving skills so they can cope with problems in healthy ways. Mentally healthy children and adolescents have a positive quality of life, can function well at home, in school, in their communities, and are learning how to assume adulthood.

Protective Factors for Mental Health

Risk Factors for Mental Illness

The environment where children and adolescents grow up helps shape their development and well-being. Being exposed to trauma and negative experiences at home, in school, online, or on social media increase their risk of mental illness. Trauma such as exposure to violence, bullying, poverty, physical or sexual abuse, and mental illness of a parent or caregiver can cause post-traumatic stress and other mental health disorders.

Other risk factors can include:

• Alcohol or drug use
• Peer Rejection
• Poverty
• Death of a family member or friend
• School violence
• Low self-esteem
• Anxiety

One in six U.S. children between the ages of 6 and 17 has a treatable mental health disorder such as depression, anxiety, or PTSD.

Common Mental Health Disorders

Depression

Occasionally being sad is a part of every child’s life but when they feel helpless or hopeless or uninterested in things they used to enjoy, they may be suffering from depression. Some behaviors in children with depression may include:

Extreme depression can lead a child to think about suicide or plan for suicide. For youth ages 10-24 years, suicide is among the leading causes of death.

If you or someone you love needs immediate help, please call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Children occasionally have thoughts that may persist, and they feel like they have to perform certain actions to make the thoughts go away even if they don’t make sense. A child may have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) when the unwanted thoughts and behaviors they must do to stop the thoughts happen frequently, take up a lot of time, make them upset, or interfere with everyday activities. The thoughts are called obsessions and the behaviors are called compulsions. Examples of OCD behaviors:

• Having to do something over and over (washing hands, turning lights on and off, placing things in specific order, checking things over and over – like whether a door is locked).
• Having to think about or repeat something over and over (words and numbers) silently or out loud.
• Having unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses that occur frequently and which cause distress and/or anxiety.

Globally, depression is one of the leading causes of illness and disability among adolescents.

Pandemic Impact on Children’s Mental Health

The impact of Covid on children’s mental health can be significant because mental stress from a traumatic event or disaster can be harder on them. They understand less about the situation and feel less of a sense of control. They also have fewer experiences bouncing back from difficult situations. The most important thing a parent or caregiver can do to help a child navigate through the pandemic and other traumatic events is to manage their own stress by exercising, eating well, getting enough sleep, breathing techniques, and taking a break from news and other stressors. Parents will then be more equipped to help children by being a role model, focusing on the positive, and offering lots of love and affection. Other ways to help children cope include:

• Establishing and maintaining a daily routine
• Reassuring their child that they are safe
• Talking about how they deal with stress
• Demonstrating breathing techniques
• Connecting with family and friends
• Spending quality time together with activities such as reading, going for walks, playing board games, or creating art projects together

Children and teens may show stress in different ways. Some behaviors and changes to look out for may include:

• Excessive crying
• Frequent stomach aches
• Difficulties with attention and focus
• Frequent headaches or body aches
• Unhealthy eating — too much or too little
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Excessive worrying or sadness
• Returning to behaviors they have outgrown (such as bedwetting)
• Alcohol or drug use
• Problems at school/dropping grades

Since these changes may also be signs of a physical or mental health disorder, you should contact your child’s primary care physician to rule out other causes. If your child needs immediate medical attention, please call 911 or take them to your nearest hospital emergency room.

The ongoing pandemic is a world health crisis, and the situation is constantly evolving. Please get regular updates from a reliable source such as the CDC or World Health Organization to keep you and your family informed of the most up to date health and safety protocols.