Amazing numbers

• One in five children have a diagnosable mental, emotional or behavioral disorder. And up to one in 10 may suffer from a serious emotional disturbance. Seventy percent of children, however, do not receive mental health services (SGRMH, 1999).
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is one of the most common mental disorders in children, affecting 3 to 5 percent of school-age children (NIMH, 1999).
• As many as one in every 33 children and one in eight adolescents may have depression (CMHS, 1998).
• Once a child experiences an episode of depression, he or she is at risk of having another episode within the next five years (CMHS, 1998).
• Teenage girls are more likely to develop depression than teenage boys (NIMH, 2000).
• Children and teens who have a chronic illness, endure abuse or neglect, or experience other trauma have an increased risk of depression (NIMH, 2000).
• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds and the sixth leading cause of death for 5- to 14-year-olds. The number of attempted suicides is even higher (AACAP, 1997).
• Studies have confirmed the short-term efficacy and safety of treatments for depression in youth (NIMH, 2000).
• Alcohol, marijuana, inhalants and club drugs are the most frequently used drugs among middle- and high-school youth (SAMHSA, 2000)
• Research has shown that use of club drugs such as Ecstasy and GHB can cause serious health problems and, in some cases, death. Used in combination with alcohol, these drugs pose even more danger (NIDA, 1999).
• Children and adolescents increasingly believe that regular alcohol and drug use is not dangerous (SAMHSA, 2000).
• Among middle- and high-school students, less than 20 percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 report using alcohol in the previous month, and less than 4 percent report drinking heavily in the previous month (SAMHSA, 2000).
• Young people are beginning to drink at younger ages. This is troubling particularly because young people who begin drinking or using drugs before age 15 are four times more likely to become addicted than those who begin at age 21 (SAMHSA, 2000).
• Children of alcohol- and drug-addicted parents are up to four times more likely to develop substance abuse and mental health problems than other children. (NACOA, 1998)
• Twenty percent of youths in juvenile justice facilities have a serious emotional disturbance and most have a diagnosable mental disorder. Up to an additional 30 percent of youth in these facilities have substance abuse disorders or co-occurring substance abuse disorders (OJJDP, 2000).