PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — May is Mental Health Awareness month and the Child Mind Institue is launching a new campaign to destigmatize mental health issues. The Dare to Share campaign features celebrities sharing their personal mental health struggles and it’s part of an effort to encourage kids to talk about their own struggles as well.
Doylestown native Pink was featured on Monday morning.
“It does get better,” Pink said. “There are beautiful moments waiting for you, and there are beautiful people waiting to love you, and one of those people is yourself.”
"It does get better. There are beautiful moments waiting for you, and there are beautiful people waiting to love you, and one of those people is yourself.” – @Pink https://t.co/UNdg7RaN8R pic.twitter.com/xMmp5sGo5H
— Child Mind Institute (@childmindinst) May 2, 2022
According to the CDC, ADHD, anxiety, depression and behavior problems are the most commonly diagnosed mental disorders in children. Among children in the United States between the ages 12 and 17, one in five experience a major depressive episode.
“We want to make sure they’re functioning,” Jamie Howard said. “If it goes on for two weeks of a child being consistently sad and down and not interested in things they used to enjoy, we might think this is starting to seem like a depressive episode and not just a momentary setback.”
Jamie Howard is a senior clinical psychologist from the Child Mind Institute. She says when talking to parents about mental health, they shouldn’t jump in with solutions.
They should ask open-ended questions and continue checking in.
“With empathy and earnestness ask, ‘So tell me what’s going on, I’ve noticed you haven’t been spending time with your friends,’ or, ‘I noticed your grades are slipping,’ and don’t jump to reprimanding them, but say, ‘What’s going on?'” Howard said.
Dr. Jamie Howard of @childmindinst says having ongoing conversations and being “frank” with children, starting at a young age, can help kids who may be dealing with mental health diagnoses — and ease the stigma surrounding them. #MentalHealthMonth pic.twitter.com/ey8pF0PsbN
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) May 2, 2022
Half of the mental health disorders begin before age 14, so experts say to start conversations early.
Click here for more information on the Dare to Share campaign.
CBS News correspondent Wendy Gilette contributed to this report.
