Childhood and Adolescence: Challenges in Mental Health

Mental health is an integral and essential component of health. The World Health Organization (WHO) constitution states: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." More than 450 million people suffer from mental disorders worldwide. In India, mental health services, especially for children and adolescents, are limited both in terms of number of facilities as well as trained professionals. The majority of mental health services are restricted to urban areas, that is, medical colleges or regional mental health institutes. Mere presence of a treatment facility does not guarantee that all children/adolescents suffering from mental illness will utilize such services. In fact, most of the time there is a significant delay from the patient side in accessing mental health services either because of lack of awareness or associated stigma. It is high time to promote positive mental health in children, adolescents and their parents through health education. Parental counseling is of utmost importance in order to avoid the delay in treatment seeking.