Sep 08
Annually, September 10
th marks World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD). This year’s theme was ‘Take a minute, change a life.’
The onset of 70% of mental health problems occurs during childhood or adolescence. They require counselling and therapy as soon as possible and close to home. Children and youth are suffering while waiting a year or more to access long-term counselling and therapy.
In Ontario, the government has made some recent strides towards prioritizing children and youth mental health by funding the teaching of administrators how to recognize when kids need mental health supports, they have also invested in making schools more mentally healthy. They also announced in early 2017 the intention to invest in co-locate services in nine youth wellness hubs.
All of these efforts are important, but the single biggest issue continues to be ignored, the lack of long-term counselling and therapy for children and youth.
From Kim Moran, CEO, Children’s Mental Health Ontario Children’s Mental Health Ontario (CMHO) represents more than 100 Ontario public-funded, community-based children and youth mental health centres working to improve the mental health and treat mental illness of thousands of children and youth.
If you need immediate assistance, contact your local crisis line here:
https://suicideprevention.ca/need-help/
Full Article Link: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2017/05/29/youth-mental-health-demand-is-exploding-how-universities-and-business-are-scrambling-to-react.html