Youth Show Biases Against Mental Health Disorders
Approximately one in ten American children experience a behavioral, emotional, or mental health disorder. The fear of being ostracized or stigmatized by their peers and family often dissuades young people from seeking care or support for these identifiable and treatable conditions. A new nation-wide survey, conducted by the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health (RTC) in collaboration with Harris Interactive, focused on perceptions of mental health challenges among children aged 8-18. The RTC worked with a youth advisory panel to develop the survey questions. More than 1,300 children and teenagers completed the survey.
Results indicate that encouraging youth to seek out support for their mental health difficulties can be very difficult. For example, the survey found that approximately one out of every six youth (15%) believe that people in their family think that if you have depression you should not tell anyone outside the family, compared to only one out of 30 (3%) for asthma. About half of youth reported that they would most likely talk to a friend (57%) or their parents (49%) and pray (44%) if they thought they had depression. They also reported they would try harder to think and act “normally” (40%) or wait for it to go away (28%). In contrast, if they believed they had asthma, over 80% of youth indicated they would talk to a doctor and/or their parents, and almost 70% would take medication.
Survey results also showed that youth with mental health conditions are more likely to be stigmatized by their peers than youth with physical conditions. Youth were asked questions about a fictional student, Michael, who had one of three conditions – depression, ADHD or asthma. Results indicated that Michael was more likely to be made fun of by most students when he is not around for having depression (38%) than for having ADHD (31%) or asthma (23%). Fewer youth reported expecting other students to sit with Michael to eat lunch if he were depressed (31%) than if he had ADHD (38%) or asthma (49%), and also thought that students would be less likely to invite Michael with depression to parties or outings (27%) than Michael with ADHD (34%) or asthma (45%).
You can review the preliminary results of the survey in Harris Interactive’s September Trends and Tudes newsletter. We will be conducting further analyses of this data, and will keep you informed of any new developments from the RTC.
The results of this survey bring up complicated concerns regarding peer-perceptions of mental health challenges among children and adolescents.
- Does it surprise you that almost 2 out of 5 youth believe a peer with depression would be made fun of behind his back or that he would be more likely to sit alone during lunchtime?
- How might the study’s findings about the coping mechanisms youth would use if they had depression (talk to friends and family and pray rather than talk to a doctor) influence the ways that adults and mental health professionals address children’s needs?
- How might the study’s findings impact school policy or a classroom environment?
As always, we encourage you to share your views on this topic, and look forward to your response.
Your thoughts…
Comments:
 I am not a scientologist, I am a parent that wants what is best for all of our children. I really do care about this, I have been doing some kind of advocacy for about at least 15-20 years now, please understand this. I have had to rescind some of what I have said in those years as well. I know the truth now I want this to stop, coercive and forced treatment is harmful and damaging it always will be and for those that have experienced it and are trying to fight it then it can cause all kinds of stress and what you might want to call PTSD, especially if it may be based on misperception, medical mistakes, or propaganda. There are other ways of changing these things that may be based on lies, on truths, on misperceptions, on the power that be, or the lack of power of those that it affects. I want it to stop Charlie I want the truth to be told. I want to ask for the changes that I have had to fight for all this time in one form or another to be there for other people, and I want to be able to do it with dignity. Until the truth is publicly told this is not going to happen and those that have drug company money and powerful interest in keeping this going such as jobs in this feild are always going to have more power then me, don't you think that I know this? I am not a scientologist, I am a parent that cares and knows that if I tell the truth and not what you want me too then I will not get patted on my head, but if I tell the truth now then I will get slapped down and discredited for trying to get it out there. That is all. I want it to stop Charlie! Be truthful have some integrity! That is all that I ask. Ask your President to tell America the truth about the questions I have posed to all of you all! Posted Friday, March 2, 2007 at 05:32 PM
The fact is that your "Job" is as a psychiatrist, you get paid and you get kickbacks for labeling and drugging our children. You can not factually dispute that there is "no" valid and reliable scientific evidence for what you are doing, case by case no I mean at all. Once you can give that to me then I will actually stop posting what I am posting and stop educating people against what you are doing. I am not a scientologist that is just one more way for you to try to discredit me. For now I don't care how nice you want to seem to play, you are corrupting our childrens lives. A lie is not nice, anything done based on lies is not nice either it makes the one telling the lie a liar. Defend your ego, your conscience, your position as much as you want to and say you are a psychiatrist as much as you would like, what you are doing is wrong. Posted Thursday, December 14, 2006 at 04:33 AM
Before I launch into what I was going to say, let me get two things off my chest:
1. It is sad to see the "scientology like" comments in response to this article. It feels like a deliberate attempt to sabbotage this forum. I agree with the one comment above that indicated "hate psychiatry" comments, with all their inaccuracies and distortions, do reflect the fact of stigma and a failure in our society to grab hold of all sorts of human suffering and cope with it compassionately and effectively.
2. It is wrong to think that there is no stigma for other conditions. Even the article had a sizable minority with stigmatized attitutes about asthma. I know it is way worse for cancer, especially in kids. Human's hate to contemplate the reality of suffering of any kind and blame victims regularly.
So let me procede with what I was going to say. As a psychiatrist and a doctor I would like to "own up" to a failing of all medical professions to achieve balance in how we conceive of our patients. We tend to want to stay "objective" and approach an "illness" with criteria, measurable symptomology, measurable treatment results and we are most comfortable with lumped data - huge "n's" for our research efforts. Our successes are expressed in statistics, not an individual human story. As a clinician I do deal with REAL HUMAN BEINGS!, one at a time. Each one falls outside the statistical norm in some way or another, thank God! We can use scientific data to crudely guide our understanding of a situation presented by an individual in front of us, and in devising an approach to help them, but we can't KNOW them until we make a human connection and plumb the depths of that individual's persona.
I work with teenagers exclusively. I forge a good working relationship with them and immediately transcend the often sterile statements given as reasons for referral from agencies or schools. I deal with a parent's confusion and exhaustion in dealing with day to day chaos stemming from their teenagers behavior, but work hard to demonstrate to the youth I am working with that I am attentive to, but independent of parent's perceptions as I form ideas about them. I do NOT let the frame of reference of others determine my relationship with the youth. Every kid arrives at my door expecting to be typed and made into "a case" and every kid intuitively knows that once that is done the mental health practitioner encounter will rob them of their since of a unique identity as they become one more case typifying some way of screwing up. They fear my affirming their parent's ever more discouraged attitude about them and the schools and social agencies type casting them as "problem cases," i.e "bad kids." Diagnoses indeed don't play well for most teens.
My speciality is to cut through this set up for failure by doing a set of very crucial things to "get real" and beyond the diagnosis. I take time to know the young person as a human being, to know their strengths and how the grand dance of adolescent development is going. I don't "freak out" as they grow ever more trusting of me as a youth friendly adult, tell me disturbing stories and test and tease me. They begin to see me as OK even though I am one more mental health professional. They do see me as different from the others due to my engagement style. I climb into their stories and address the dilemmas that they bring me and help with practical problem solving and support.
But I do have a psychiatric brain deep inside my head. I am constantly picking up data that I can, for a moment, and attempt to organize it into a diagnostic formulation. But as I do this I am keenly aware that such a process is only PART of the assessment and may or may not be useful to the youth. If, in the course of getting a sense of where this kid is developmentally and what his strengths are and how his behavior may be seen as symptom expression, or communication of distress, I may be able to build a case with a kid that they could qualify for a diagnosis. I explain that this could be important for one thing and one thing only, if they meet criteria the odds are good that some medication MIGHT be helpful. I don't push this and I don't let parents or outsiders rule the day on when and if a provide a medication. I know that unless a youth gets it that I see them as a complete individual I have no chance of being relevant to them in my efforts to help, and therefore I have no chance of getting them to find a diagnosis and a relevant treatment useful. When they trust me and see me as a cool mentor type, then they bring their friends into their session and show me off rather then slink into corners hiding their diagnosis. That is the only relevant form of stigma busting with kids!
What we are seeing with this stigma report is a gigantic failure of our society to organize and conceptualize the human suffering that comes form mental disorders in a wholistic context and to address the suffering individual in a humanistic way. Our treatment structures deemphasize this and DO NOT FUND IS TO BE HUMAN!!! This report is a very important one, but it needs to be understood. I write this because I fear the message is likely to be grossly misinterpreted, as it has been with stirring up the scientology like crusaders. Posted Tuesday, November 21, 2006 by Charley Huffine, MD at 01:35 PM
Have you ever been labeled have you ever been coercively or forcibly treated and labeled because you were too poor to provide the things that you need to in order to keep from this happening to you? Were you ever raped because of this label? Have you ever had to tell your own child that you are sorry that you told them a lie and stopped them from being all that they could be? Especially when they ask you not to do the same thing to their sibling, not to make the school identify them and treat them because they will find their own way and they are smart enough. Have you seen some little boy with a scar like harry potter on the middle of his forhead for life because he missed his mom and they restrained him for it because his mother was put in jail for dealing drugs and this little boy was then labeled as mentally ill and put on the same drugs his mother was busted for selling? What I want is the validity and reliability of the science behind these labels and treatments, the research and such, when I get that from other then textbook sources from those that should have them the APA, NAMI, and the U.S. Surgeon General then I will shut up and leave them alone, they don't have it so they have no right to do what they coercively and forcibly do. Without this label then no one would be being treated and made fun of for it they would get the real help that they needed and things would get better quickly. Ignorance and prejudice, from who the survivors of this system and the ones who have been taught state advocacy for twenty years, yes I would sure say that we are all ignorant wouldn't you? There is no real basis for this and these children should not be taught to be proud of it, it must be the exception and not the thing to do to be in the crowd. Children should be taught to be proud of their skills, their abilities and their unique differences and they should not be chastized or called names for them, one twenty four year old girl will never have any kind of a life outside of a nursing home because this is what the state does to her because of this label and having no place to go and getting angry about being treated in these ways, it is wrong. It is so wrong to mix up so many issues rather then doing any thing real to fix them that I don't know what I would like to see done about it, not the kids made fun of that is for sure. I was made fun of only it was not my fault it did not mean I had an illness a mind disease it was the kids that done it to me and were not taught any better then to do it to me, the survivors deserve to have some restitution from this system. Oh yeah, that is what the crazy check that they get is right? NOT, things are going to change if it takes every ounce of energy that I have. Posted Thursday, November 9, 2006 at 04:30 PM
How ironic that responders would post reflections
of loathing toward the stigma associated with being
labeled with a mental or behavioral disorder. They
seem almost angry at the author for suggesting the
current statistics. However it is by their anger they
prove the validity behind the article: as adults, our
society is uncomfortable and biased against people
with mental health issues. The label does not cause
the reaction; ignorance and prejudice cause the
reaction. Worse it cycles, and our children learn to
fear, hate and avoid association with mental illness.
Of course our kids are show biases against mental
health disorders. Where do you think they have
learned that behavior? Posted Wednesday, November 8, 2006 at 10:32 AM
Does this person who is speaking as an adult looking back at their childhood understand the side effects of these treatments that they are suggesting should be pushed on American children: Drug induced stuttering, Weight gain, Dizziness, Sleeplessness, Restlessness, Anxiety, Diabetes, Racing heart, Heart disorders, Suicide risk in children, risk of homocide as in school shootings, White Blood Cell Disorders, Convulsions and Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, Life threatening inflammation of the Pancreas, Illegal sales on the street, Illegal creation of drugs, Illegal experimentation and addiction to drugs, Glaucoma, Harmful food and drug interactions, Synergistic and Anti synergistic affects, Unnatural and dangerous serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, misprescribing, Dyskyntonia, Sudden Deaths, Drug overdoses, Drug induced psychiatric symptoms. Do they know that there is no scientific evidence for what is being done to them such as: Evidence That Clearly Establishes the validity of "schizophrenia" "depression" or other "major mental Illnesses" as biologically-based brain diseases. Evidence For A Physical Diagnostic Exam such as a scan or test of the brain, blood, urine, genes, etc that can reliably distinguish individuals with these diagnoses (prior to treatment with psychiatric drugs), from individuals without these diagnoses. Evidence For a Base-line Standard of a neurochemically balanced "normal" personality, against which a neurochemical "imbalance" can be measured and corrected by pharmaceutical means. Evidence That Any Psychotropic Drug can correct a "chemical imbalance" attributed to a psychiatric diagnoses, and is any thing more than a non-specific alterer of physiology. Evidence That Any Psychotropic Drug can reliably decrease the likelihood of violence or suicide. Evidence That Psychotropic Drugs do not in fact increase the overall likelihood of violence and suicide. Do they further know and understand that having this so called brain disease means a loss of civil rights to them and that any time any one thinks they are dangerous to themselves or another they can be locked inside of an institution and treated against their will? Then do they also know that this so called medical label goes with them the rest of their lives and it doesn't go away it affects the jobs they will be able to get their prospects for insurance, and all kinds of different things? Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 02:28 PM
As a teen, I was afflicted by depression. I wanted to die. My conditon was real -- not something made up by society like some people are suggesting. I had a hard time fitting in because I had difficulty managing life, friends, and my emotions. My behavior wasn't normal (as some people are implying), not to me then or in retrospect. I am glad that I got treatment, but it wasn't until college that it happened. I wish I knew where to go sooner. Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 01:01 PM
After learning more about the history of psychiatry and how their industry has a history of treatments which were based on fraud and which never really helped out, and comparing that to what I have seen in terms of recovery and resiliency, it seems to me that psychaitry needs to go and that more humane treatments are available and can be utilized to assist others in difficult stressful and otherwise crazy times without the need to be taken by an industry prosecuted criminally for fraud in countries other than the United States. It's sad to see so many people taken by the false advertising and otherwise damaged by the harmful "treatments". Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 12:12 PM
What do you think it means to say seek care and support when it also says "behavioral, emotional, or mental health dissorder dissuades young people from seeking from seeking care or support...for these identifiable and treatable conditions". What is the treatment for these so called diseases once children are so called diagnosed do you know? Why should our kids be diagnosed as mentally ill when their behavior is normal? Friends and family members should support children without them having to be given false labels and treatments that most often than not include drugs. Is it right to call children names in our society or ostracize them, people should indeed have a label and that is as being a human being. These mental illness lables do have effects. If a child is known as black, white, asian, rich, poor, heterosexual, homosexual, free, slave, smart, dumb, good, bad, fat, skinny, easy, hard to deal with, hysterical, calm, funny, inconsiderate, polite, rude, educated, uneducated, homeless, homeowner, bigot, good religious person, yes it does have an effect. It depends on what the message is if it is based on a lie or true scientific evidence that children should actually be called names or not or treated as if they are human beings. It is not the same thing as stopping the stigma either, nor stopping any thing that is really causing it. Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 10:00 AM
My message is not being posted and I am wondering why? Posted Thursday, October 19, 2006 at 09:54 AM
Several of the comments below seem rather hysterical given the moderate nature of what this short article is saying. First, the article does not promote the idea that children should go to a psychiatrist, it says "seek care or support." Later on, what is written seems to indicate that that sort of support includes talking to parents or friends. Second, people are labeled in our society. There is nothing in the article that says we should label children, it is merely pointing out that these lables do have effects. If a child is known by a certain label-- such as having ADHD or depression-- then the effects will be different than if they are labeled with "asthma." It seems that several of the people posting here have a 'shoot the messenger' attitude. Learning about stigmatization is not the same thing as promoting it. Posted Wednesday, October 18, 2006 at 09:09 AM
It is wrong to put labels on people like they are a can of soup to be bought or sold. We can do much better if we dont phsychiatrize America's youth and instead of blaming; we as a nation seek out those who have a need for help like if they are young and need help in math that instead of labeling them as mentaly ill we explain what they are doing to them and show them how to do it. We need to encourage them to speak out and let them have emotions instead of saying if you do you will hurt yourself or another person that is stereotyping and is a sort of discremination against other less fourtunate people or anyone who has emotions other than being happy all the time. I agree with the lady that it is okay to sit alone as long as you are not hurting yourself or somebody else, should it be okay to call that mental illnes, NO I do not think so. I thought America was a place of rights not a early Germany to overun with gass tanks for those who have emotions. To take away anothers fundamental rights is morally wrong and if it keeps up we might find ourselfs in a slave state; and it might even turn into a new world Britian with Queens and Kings that could do anything they wanted on a whim. America is supposed to be a free country where it is supposed to be all right to have feelings and other rights. Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 07:54 PM
No this is wrong, this is numbers being built to psychiatrize children with. How do we stop it instead of grow it? We have to stop it some time. This is as it should be, do not psychiatrize the children, it is not fair, psychiatry is built on fear and greed and the suits have no idea how to change things for the better or to stop wanting and taking so much for them selves and labeling the kids to do it. It is wrong. Why are we exposing our kids to so much corruptness in life, this is simply management technique. This is a good thing to hear, the systems must stop what they are doing it is hurting all of our children and our society to label and treat these children for false diseases. I hope that more parents learn and teach their children that this system is not their friend any longer, it is not it is the world's enemy and maybe that is a strong statement, but its wrong what is being done. We never use to have all the violence that we have today and the suicides and homocides things are getting worse and worse at the systems hands and that is the truth. It always does go away if the situations are corrected that are causing it and one of the main situations stem from drug use and poverty and it has to stop. I am not saying that those that have problems should not seek out whatever help they need, but for false diseases that prosper the drug companies it is wrong. But what you are doing is labeling a child with a brain disease for rude and ugly behavior of other children, the same can be done to adults and it is wrong. It is not the one that it is being done to that is bad or abnormal it is the ones that have no better common decency in life then to do it. I don't think we understand that concept because to many people have learned that it is okay it gets back to bullying and stigmatizing the one being bullied rather then stopping the bullying and placing the blame where it belongs on the bully or bullies. And some people do like to sit alone and be alone there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that as long as they are not hurting them selves or anyone else. It is a good thing to be alone some times and one should not be psychiatrized for that choice. Leave them alone and go out and find a real job. Just because you have spent a lot of money on these kinds of degrees does not give anyone a right to overtake another persons human rights. If they are doing some thing wrong correct them for the behavior don't psychiatrize it. There was a study that in today's world even most United States have 2 or less friends today. Could it be a sign of the times? Could it be that the system we have built on psychiatry is tearing up basic human trust and willingness to be open and make mistakes some times? My son seems to be going to a good school at this time, but the eighth grade teachers seem kind of like they might be rude bullies I hope this is not true, he is only in the seventh grade where the teachers seem caring and considerate and want to see him do well. I hope I find out differently. I guess all people can be rude bullies at points even when we may not expect them to be? So I am not sure how to change this, that might be a good question? How do we change the idea that it is really the kid/person being picked on/made fun of that is at fault rather then those that are doing it? Well here it is in all good honesty, what do I have to do to make things change? Will anyone ever really listen to any of us that have been there done that and in fact know the real truths now and want to change things for the better for the future? Or is this just another game? Sorry for having to post this twice. Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 05:16 PM
"Approximately one in ten American children experience a behavioral, emotional, or mental health disorder".
(janie) no this is wrong this is numbers being built to psychiatrize children with. How do we stop it instead of grow it? We have to stop it some time.
"The fear of being ostracized or stigmatized by their peers and family often dissuades young people from seeking care or support for these identifiable and treatable conditions".
(janie) this is as it should be, do not psychiatrize the children, it is not fear, psychiatry is built on fear and greed and the suits have no idea how to change things for the better or to stop wanting and taking so much for them selves and labeling the kids to do it. It is wrong.
A new nation-wide survey, conducted by the Research and Training Center on Family Support and Children’s Mental Health (RTC) in collaboration with Harris Interactive, focused on perceptions of mental health challenges among children aged 8-18. The RTC worked with a youth advisory panel to develop the survey questions. More than 1,300 children and teenagers completed the survey.
(janie) why are we exposing our kids to so much corruptness in life, this is simply management technique.
"Results indicate that encouraging youth to seek out support for their mental health difficulties can be very difficult".
(janie) this is a good thing to hear, the systems must stop what they are doing it is hurting all of our children and our society to label and treat these children for false diseases. I hope that more parents learn and teach their children that this system is not their friend any longer, it is not it is the world's enemy and maybe that is a strong statement, but its wrong. We never use to have all the violence that we have today and the suicides and homocides things are getting worse and worse at the systems hands and that is the truth.
For example, the survey found that approximately one out of every six youth (15%) believe that people in their family think that if you have depression you should not tell anyone outside the family, compared to only one out of 30 (3%) for asthma. About half of youth reported that they would most likely talk to a friend (57%) or their parents (49%) and pray (44%) if they thought they had depression. They also reported they would try harder to think and act “normally” (40%) or wait for it to go away (28%).
(janie) it always does go away if the situations are corrected that are causing it and one of the main situations stem from drug use and poverty and it has to stop. I am not saying that those that have problems should not seek out whatever help they need, but for false diseases that prosper the drug companies it is wrong.
"Does it surprise you that almost 2 out of 5 youth believe a peer with depression would be made fun of behind his back or that he would be more likely to sit alone during lunchtime"?
(janie) But what you are doing is labeling a child with a brain disease for rude and ugly behavior of other children, the same can be done to adults and it is wrong. It is not the one that it is being done to that is bad or abnormal it is the ones that have no better common decency in life then to do it. I don't think we understand that concept because to many people have learned that it is okay it gets back to bullying and stigmatizing the one being bullied rather then stopping the bullying and placing the blame where it belongs on the bully or bullies. And some people do like to sit alone and be alone there is nothing intrinsically wrong with that as long as they are not hurting them selves or anyone else. It is a good thing to be alone some times and one should not be psychiatrized for that choice.
"How might the study’s findings about the coping mechanisms youth would use if they had depression (talk to friends and family and pray rather than talk to a doctor) influence the ways that adults and mental health professionals address children’s needs"?
(janie) Leave them alone and go out and find a real job. Just because you have spent a lot of money on these kinds of degrees does not give anyone a right to overtake another persons human rights. If they are doing some thing wrong correct them for the behavior don't psychiatrize it. There was a study that in today's world even most United States have 2 or less friends today. Could it be a sign of the times? Could it be that the system we have built on psychiatry is tearing up basic human trust and willingness to be open and make mistakes some times?
"How might the study’s findings impact school policy or a classroom environment"?
(janie) My son seems to be going to a good school at this time, but the eighth grade teachers seem kind of like they might be rude bullies I hope this is not true he is only in the seventh grade. I hope I find out differently. I guess all people can be rude bullies at points even when we may not expect them to be? So I am not sure how to change this, that might be a good question? How do we change the idea that it is really the kid/person being picked on/made fun of that is at fault rather then those that are doing it?
"As always, we encourage you to share your views on this topic, and look forward to your response".
(janie) Well here it is in all good honesty, what do I have to do to make things change? Will anyone ever really listen to any of us that have been there done that and in fact know the real truths now and want to change things for the better for the future? Or is this just another game?
Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 05:08 PM
I am not surprised that young people with depression or ADHD might be stigmatized by their classmates, but it does surprise me somewhat that the stimatization is worse for depression. But there are many unanswered questions-- like, how do you know that young people, especially children, know what ADHD or depression are? Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 at 03:52 PM
Post a Comment:
Return to
Current Featured Discussions Page Top |
