Kid's Mental Health: How Not Every Family Can Afford Them

Lauren Brown West-Rosenthal, a contributor to Parents says she has a daughter named Mila who was a kindergartener at that moment and a busy kindergartener who faced not quite normal school days due to the mask mandate and Covid-19 cases still on the rise. When her daughter began studying and had massive school activities, Lauren noticed that the child sustain stress due to the unpredictable freelance schedule of the mom and her dad's inconsistent existence as he was a both firefighter and paramedic.

The NYC-based freelance writer says that she tried to ease such guilt by jam-packing their weekends with activities as she soon realized that it was too much because her child soon begged for "lazy Sundays". However, there was one certain weekday morning when the mom could sense her daughter's irritability was more than just her being a tween and felt she needed a day to regroup and relax. The entertainment writer in New York concluded that staying home is not an option and thinks that it would not help her daughter.

The writer eventually learned a strategy that she thinks changed almost everything as she sent a desperate explanatory email to Mila's teacher which actually turned into a game changer. That time, the educator gave Mila the space she needed that day along with a personalized book of coping strategies for whenever she felt either overwhelmed at home or school that was sent to her by her teacher.

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"Mental health days as an excused absence"

Bethany L. Cook, Psy.D., a clinical psychologist and author of "For What It's Worth: A Perspective on How to Thrive and Survive Parenting Ages 0-2" says that those people specifically parents who are in lower income brackets struggle due to the limited access to resources. This entails jobs that do not usually come with a benefit packet that includes, paid time off, insurance, and mental health days.

In most cases where older kids are involved, their own school workload hinders them from taking a mental health day as it gets in the way. Also, a day off or rest day from school might end up more overwhelming for kids due to the assignments piled up.

Mila, on the other hand, is now a second-grader and absolutely loves school now, especially since there have been a few days where staying home may have benefited her. Fortunately, many states are now recognizing "mental health days as an excused absence." However, for Lauren and other many families in similar situations, work hinders them from having the access to mental health days which also affects their own kids.

Some families cannot afford mental healthcare expenses

Adults experienced mental health issues that were left untreated way back when they were a child due to circumstances linked with family stress including persistent poverty. Thus, young ones who experience chronic neglect, parental mental health, or substance abuse problems are specifically vulnerable when they become adults.

Although many mental disorders or illnesses tend to run in the family and can be passed down from parent to child which increases if both parents have a certain mental health disorder. Poverty also plays a big part as it prevents one from having that good quality access to mental health care.

Moreover, for families who lived in an impoverished area and are predisposed to mental illness, income, housing, and employment for an extended period of time can definitely increase the risk factors for relapse. Also, according to Senedd Research, poverty worsens one's mental illnesses as one can experience constant high levels of stress.

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