One in Five American Children in the Grip of at least One Mental Disorder: CDC

The prevalence of certain mental health disorders like ADHD, autism, depression and anxiety disorders is becoming more common among American children, a latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says.

According to the report, "Mental Health Surveillance Among Children -United States, 2005-2011" released May 16, between 13 and 20 percent of children in the country, i.e., one in five children aged three to 17 is living with at least one mental disorder. The findings come at a time when the country is observing May as "Mental Health Awareness Month".

To reach a conclusion, the federal authorities looked at information included in the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine report. The report, compiled from findings of previous studies, revealed that ADHD (6.8 percent) was topping the list of common mental issues diagnosed among the young generation currently, with other mental health disorders like anxiety (3 percent), depression (2.1 percent), autism spectrum disorders (1.1 percent) and Tourette syndrome (0.2 percent) following.

Apart from that, teens aged between 12 and 17 were found to be specifically affected with some other types of disorders, like illicit drug use disorder (4.7 percent), alcohol use disorder (4.2 percent) and cigarette dependence (2.8 percent).

All disorders were more prevalent among boys than girls, and teenage boys aged between 12 and 17 were found to be at higher risks of committing suicide compared to their female counterparts.  On the other hand, depression and alcohol use disorder affected more teen girls than boys.

Concerned with the findings, health experts have urged parents, health practitioners and teachers to take appropriate steps to identify their children's mental condition early and provide proper intervention to avoid tragedies in the future.

"Millions of children in the U.S. have mental disorders that affect their overall health and present challenges for their loved ones. In addition, the financial costs of childhood mental disorders are at least an estimated $247 billion each year," Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said in a statement on the website. "We are working to both increase our understanding of these disorders, and help scale up programs and strategies to promote children's mental health so that our children grow to lead productive, healthy lives."

Following are some of the warning signs to identify mental illness among children, provided by Mayo Clinic:

• Change in mood or symptoms of withdrawal that remain for more than two weeks
• Exhibiting an extreme set of emotions through fear, worries or fast breathing
• Change in behavior and expressing intention to hurt others
• Losing weight without proper reason and not showing interest in eating
• Exhibiting symptoms of self-injury or talking about suicide
• Inability to concentrate properly
• Alcohol or drug addiction

According to the health experts, psychotherapy and medication are two treatments available to treat and re-gain children's mental health.