A disability can be physical, cognitive, social, or emotional in nature. In some cases, differences in learning styles can be considered as a disability. The World Health Organization says that mental health problems make up almost half of all disabilities in children and young adults. This may seem surprising, since mental illnesses are frequently kept as a secret.
The World Health Organization (WHO) did some research that involved data that came from 191 different countries around the world. Researchers then estimated the number of years of having good health that were lost because of disease or injury. The term for this kind of estimation is “disability-adjusted life years”. In general, people who are young tend to be much healthier than those who are older, or elderly.
When they looked specifically at the data for adolescents and young adults, or for people between the ages of 10 and 24, they found that 45% of the instances of disability were due to mental illness. This included depression, bipolar illness, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders. Under “other”, the researchers included the abuse of alcohol.
The researchers put all of the data, that came from young people from around the world, together. This was the first study that looked at the “burden of disability” in young people from an international viewpoint. The researchers ended up estimating that around 236 million healthy years of life were lost by the group who had disabilities. By this, they meant the number of years the person actually lived, as well is years that were “lost” due to a prolonged illness or a disability.
Mental illness was at the top of the list of causes for a disability. This was followed by an accidental injury that resulted in a disability. After that, the next largest category was communicable diseases, (such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis). Another, smaller, factor for disability came from drug and alcohol use, unsafe sex and/or the lack of using birth control, and iron deficiency. An iron deficiency is a sign of malnutrition.
The positive notes for parents to take out of this research are many. The first thing to realize is that you are not alone. Parenting a child who has a mental illness can be extremely stressful, and it is a good idea for parents to reach out for support. You may benefit from counseling for yourself, or by connecting with a support group that deals with the mental illness that your child has.
Another thing to keep in mind is that children and young adults who are diagnosed with a mental illness tend to have a positive response to treatment. The earlier the treatment is started, the better the results could, potentially, be.
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