Mental health care is essential care
Just like physical health, we all have mental health — and sometimes kids and teens need support taking care of it.
Mental illness is a real medical condition. It happens when the brain struggles to regulate thoughts, emotions or behaviours. Just like with a broken bone or chronic illness, mental illness is treatable.
The need for mental health care is growing fast— and too often, kids aren’t getting it. Right now, only one in three young people in Canada with a mental illness receive the treatment they need. In Canada, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are the most common mental disorders in youth. Around 3% to 9% of kids will be diagnosed with anxiety and 3% to 7% with ADHD.
With more youth from Alberta coming to the Stollery Emergency department for mental health crises than for broken bones, the Stollery grew their mental health-care services to meet the growing need. Donors helped make this possible.
The Stollery Children’s Hospital now has:
• Two nurses 24/7 on the Emergency Mental Health Team and two social workers
• The Mental Health Assessment and Stabilization Team
• A mental health Child Life Specialist
• Clinical Nurse Educators for Stollery Mental Health and Pediatric Teams
• A family counsellor
• The Stollery Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic
When mental health problems go untreated in kids and teens, their physical health suffers. At the Stollery, mental health care is health care — and thanks to your support, youth in Alberta don’t need to face it alone.
