Mental health issues of youth at core of community forum

By Amy Coyne Bredeson CONTRIBUTOR

An ongoing study of brain development and child health has revealed that one in five children had some type of mental health diagnosis at baseline, with anxiety being the most common, according to Medical University of South Carolina neuroscientist Anna Kirkland.

Kirkland spoke to a crowd of parents, students, teachers and leaders at the free Community Forum on Child/Adolescent Mental Health and Wellness held March 27 at Bluffton High School.

Beaufort County School District superintendent Frank Rodriguez, Board of Education chairperson Dr. Christina Gwozdz, Bluffton mayor Lisa Sulka and Hilton Head Island mayor Alan Perry were all in attendance.

The event was organized by the Lowcountry Alliance for Healthy Youth (LCAHY) in response to the United States surgeon general’s plea for a community-wide approach to protecting mental health in young people, said Dr. Loretta Novince, psychologist and consultant for the group.

“According to the Substance Abuse Mental

Health Services Administration, half of all lifetime cases of mental and substance use disorders begin by age 14, and three-quarters by age 24,” Novince wrote in an email to The Bluffton Sun.

Students who participate in Teens for Healthy Youth, an initiative of LCAHY, asked members of the community to get involved in promoting positive teen mental health and wellness.

MUSC clinical psychologist Alexis Garcia spoke about the signs and symptoms of adolescent depression, anxiety and behavior disorders. She discussed the risk factors for mental health problems in young people and shared some of the strategies for assessing and supporting their mental health and wellness. Some of those strategies include effective communication, parental monitoring and finding access to resources.

Garcia noted that three out of four children with depression also have anxiety and one out of five children with behavior

Please see MENTAL HEALTH on page 18A