Cheryl Steeves Heather Belanger A child is better off if there is one well parent in the household. The availability of a well adult is crucial to.

Cheryl Steeves

Heather Belanger

A child is better off if there is one well parent in the household.

The availability of a well adult is crucial to the well being of a child.

Research suggests that mental illness does not guarantee that there will be problems with the child.

Mental illness in parents interacts with the child rather than necessarily hurting the child.

Certain parenting characteristics of parents with a mental illness have been shown to be related to developmental delays in their children.

Mothers show the following characteristics with certain disorders:

Schizophrenia- less anger and hostility than well mothers.

Schizophrenia and affective disorders- show decreased verbal and emotional responsiveness.

Depression- elevated hostility.

o These characteristics have been related to developmental delays in infants and toddlers.

o These delays include language, attention, and social competence.

o Studies also show that children of a depressed mother are likely to share the characteristic of low self-esteem.

Health insurance and location seem to be the biggest obstacles for those in need of help with mental wellness.

Half of all practicing child psychiatrists in NH are in the southeastern part of the state.

A large portion of Northern NH is labeled as an area with a shortage of mental health professionals, with NO practicing child psychiatrists in Carroll or Coos counties.

Insurance is also a large issue.

20% of children who use mental health services also use services such as substance abuse programs, foster care and the juvenile system.

These costs can add up for parents, even those who have insurance.

Many co-pays for mental health are far too costly, which mean a lot of mental health needs are put off, in turn making ER visits(i.e) more common.

One the the largest challenges in NH is geographic.

Most of the wealth and employment services are located in the 2 most southern counties, while northern, more rural areas are lacking in services.

Also, because NH has not mandated health insurance, many families have no insurance or minimal coverage for mental health services, or no coverage at all.

While some children are covered by insurance, there are many parents who are not covered and cannot receive the mental health services that they may need.

This will change in September of 2010 when the Federal Health Insurance Reform Bill takes effect.

Reduce- Children’s resiliency can be increased with more services for the parents, supportive adults besides the parents, reduction in stigma of mental illness so that the parents are more likely to seek help and not fear losing their child.

Reinvest- When fewer families are in crisis, reinvest the resources that were previously used to help them and use these resources for more families in less critical need.

Wellbeing and Self Sufficiency- The wellbeing of children and parents alike may be improved with the addition of the Federal Health Insurance Reform Bill. With health insurance being mandated, many more people will seek services, and the overall wellbeing will improve, with self sufficiency improving due to receiveing services and learning to handle any mental illnesses.

Access to education- increase awareness of mental illness and provide sources for skill building and other help.

Access to employment- as people become more well and develop better coping skills, they will become more employable. Reduce the stigma of mental illness so that it is not a cause for discrimination in the workplace.

Access to mental health services- In NH, the main focus should be widening the locations of mental health professionals. Northern NH is in need of child psychiatrists and if the services can be spread all over NH, the wellbeing of all those in need would increase.

http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/KEN-0109/ch4.asp

www.heatlhychild.ucla.edu/Publications/Documents/Parentalmental0600.pdf

http://naminh.org/documents/ChildGuide2007.pdf www.nhfv.org/files/Childrens_mental_health.pdf www.cdc.gov/prams/PDFs/PRAMS%20PPD

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