MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING CAMPAIGNThis exercise is based on information from: http://www.aannet.org/files/public/KySS_template.pdf

KySS (Keep Your Children/Yourself Safe & Secure):

Integrating Physical and Mental Health Care for Young People

The Challenge: • While 13 million U.S. children and adolescents (1 in 4) experience

mental health problems, less than 30 percent receive treatment – largely due to inadequate screening and early intervention by primary care providers. The Goal: • Prevent and reduce mental health/psychosocial problems among young people. An Innovative Solution: The national Keep your Children/Yourself Safe & Secure (KySS) campaign, launched in 2001 through the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP).

• What It Is ¾ A public awareness and educational campaign that raises awareness and

knowledge of child and adolescent mental health/psychosocial problems among NAPNAP members, other health care providers, teachers, and the public and

disseminates information about how to implement effective preventive, early interventions and mental health screening for young people.

Developed by a pediatric and child family psychiatric nurse practitioner with more than 20 years of practice and research experience integrating mental and physical health for children and teens.

• What It Does Promotes integrated physical and mental health care for children and

adolescents – a break from the standard of practice in most primary care settings throughout the U.S. It emphasizes educational-behavioral interventions to teach children, youth, and their parents all aspects of physical and emotional safety (e.g., prevention of violence, motor vehicle accidents, cigarette, drug, and alcohol use, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and sexually transmitted diseases) and to build self-esteem, as well as other developmental assets (e.g., coping and problem-solving skills).

It teaches primary care providers how to better identify and manage children suffering from mental health problems

Warning parentsImagine that you are in charge of the KySS

campaign:Which mental health problems should be

emphasized? What should parents know about young people’s mental health? Which symptoms are the most frequant ones?

What are the risks children can be confronted to during their school life?

Why is it important to be on the look out for symptom? What can be the short and long term impact of mental troubles at an early age?

Number of youth suffering from major depression.

Figures: replace the words in red using a synonym.

• Mental illness, when undetected, can affect employment status throughout the lifetime. One study showed a 90% unemployment rate among adults with serious mental illness, the highest rate of unemployment of any group of people with disabilities.

• Many youth with unidentified and untreated mental illness also end up in jails. Sixty-five percent of boys and 75% of girls in juvenile detention suffer from mental illness.

• When youth go untreated for mental illness, they also experience poorer physical health, use more healthcare services, and incur higher healthcare costs in their adult years than others in the same age group. 

Today only 1 in 5 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17 years who has a mental health disorder receives treatment. There is also a lengthy gap between onset and treatment. Most mental illnesses are not diagnosed for an average of 10 years after the first symptoms appear. Missing early symptoms can result in disorders that create a lifetime of disability or tragically result in suicide.

Depression• Among adolescents who were 12-17 years old

during 2004-2006, 8.5% suffered an episode of major depression and were about twice as likely to increase their overall risk factors by using alcohol or an illicit drug as youth who had not experienced a major depressive episode during the past year. The rate of those who experience major depression increases as teens get older, with 11.5% of 16- and 17-year-olds suffering an episode in a 1-year span of time. Of those who experienced a major depressive episode, only 38.9% received treatment of any kind.

DEPRESSION AND BULLYING

Why is bullying an issue of general concern? What is its impact on young people’s health?

Anxiety• It is estimated that 13% of 9- to 17-year-olds suffer

from an anxiety disorder, an issue that, like other internalizing disorders, often goes undetected. Anxiety disorders are highly correlated with attempted and completed adolescent suicides, with 27% of adolescents who commit suicide suffering from an anxiety disorder at their time of death.

• The most common types of anxiety disorders are phobias, social anxiety, and separation anxiety. Youth who suffer from anxiety are often quiet and compliant, making it even more difficult to detect symptoms.

Suicide• Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 11- to 18-year-olds

in the United States, and almost as many teens die by suicide each year as those who die from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease combined. 

• In addition to the thousands of youth who die by suicide, millions more think about and attempt suicide. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15% of US high school students reported thinking seriously about killing themselves and 7% reported a prior suicide attempt.

• Approximately 90% of adolescent suicide victims have a psychiatric disorder, with 63% exhibiting psychiatric symptoms identifiable by screening for at least a year before their death. Rates of mood disorders, such as depression, can be as high as 68% in adolescents who commit suicide, and up to 28% may be suffering from anxiety disorders. Substance abuse is also common, particularly among adolescent male suicide victims.

Teen suicide is on the rise globally.

Each year, the teen suicide rate is increasing dramatically.

Teen suicide is the third largest cause of teenage deaths next to accidents and homicides.

Teen suicide is a rising issue, it’s time for people to know before more teens die.

Drug abuseIt is estimated that up to 50% of the mentally ill population also has a substance abuse problem, with the incidence of abuse greater among adolescent boys and those aged 18-44 years, highlighting the need for early intervention.

Disability• Mental illness is the second leading cause of

disability and premature mortality in the United States. Up to 10% of youth experience serious impairment that leaves them unable to function in school, at home, or with peers. These illnesses are a leading cause of school dropout, substance abuse, unemployment, incarceration, poor physical health, and shortened life expectancy in later life.

• Approximately 50% of students age 14 and older who suffer from mental illness drop out of high school; this is the highest dropout rate of any disability group.