There has been an upsurge in mental health problems in children and adolescents. According to the Maternal and Child Health Bureau between 2016 and 2023, the prevalence of diagnosed mental or behavioral conditions among adolescents increased by 35%. In the United States, over 5.3 million adolescents (12-17 years old) have a current, diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition. This represents 20.3% of that age group. About 1 in 6 children (ages 3-17 years) have a current, diagnosed mental health disorder. That’s a lot and the sad thing is that those numbers only reflect the diagnosed children not the ones whose parents cannot afford health care to provide diagnosis or treatment.
Mental health is health. Parents keep track of their child’s physical growth and those importance milestones of their first steps or first words. Talking about mental health can take practice and according to healthychildren.org, it helps to start early. Talking to them will help with their feelings of stress and help them build healthy, emotional coping skills.
It is suggested that the caregivers talk in a calm and neutral way. Having a pause in the conversation can help both to find the right words and feel safe. Be mindful of your eye contact and overall facial reactions to what the child is saying. Sitting at the child’s level can help avoid a power imbalance.
There helpful hints on the words you use for talking about feelings. When you pick a book for a child you pick one that has age appropriate words, “happy” for the younger set and “joyful” for the older child. Books themselves can give you a start on talking about feelings of the characters in the story. There are charts to help people tell how much pain they are in with faces and there are feeling charts that help rate feelings. They can be found on line.
One of the suggested hard things for parents to do is to model their own feelings. The golden rule is to share about your feelings, both positive and bad. Statements like “this flower is so beautiful it makes my heart happy” or “I feel frustrated because I made a mistake”. It is important to focus on modeling how to bring up feelings. However oversharing with your child can be confusing and worrisome. Grownups have many powerful feelings and while sharing is important, a child should not be put in the positioning of being the one to make things better. Having a plan in place for an evacuation from a hurricane and even practicing the plan, helps the feelings of being overwhelmed by the storm.
One in six children have a mental health issue. It is important that talking about mental health is a regular part of their growth and development. It is also true the 4 out of 5 children ages 6 months to 5 years are flourishing and are tender and affectionate and smiling and laughing. They also will benefit from talking about feelings.
Suicide hotline number is 988.
by Sally Robinson, MD, Clinical Professor
Keeping Kids Healthy
Published August 2025