CHILD MENTAL HEALTH

It is important to identify children who may have psychosocial or mental problems in the early hours. If it is detected soon enough, it would help their healthy and balanced growth.

In General, 10 to 15% of children of affected by mental problems. Around 3 to 4 % suffer from mental retardation and 1 % of epilepsy. A survey lead in August 2005 by the WHO shows that in 21 districts in Aceh Besar, Banda Aceh, Bireuen, Pidie, Aceh Utara, Aceh Barat, and Nagan Raya, there are 2,820 children under 5 years old who need a good and specific attention for their mental health.

Child mental health is an extremely important issue in order for him/her to have a balanced growth.

How to recognize children with mental health problems?
Children with mild mental problems may try to hide it through indifference and denial towards the others. They may also show indirectly their problems by poor school performance, antisocial, passive, or inhibited behaviors.

Any person involved in the well being of children can identify, with simple questions, wheter a child has or not psychological difficulties and perhaps mental health problems :

• Is the child's speaking in anyway abnormal?
• Does the child sleep badly?
• Did the child ever have a fit or fall on the ground without a reason?
• Did the child suffer from frequent headaches?
• Does the child run away from hom frequently?
• Does the child steal things?
• Does the child get scared or nervous without any reason?
• Does the child appear retarded in his/her development or slow to learn compared to other children of the same age?
• Is the child often reluctant to p;ay with other children?
• Does the child wet or soil him/herself beyond the normal age?
• Does the child show lack of attention at school?

Children need to be cared about, to be listend to and to be understood.

If a "yes" is answered to any of these questions, it indicates that the child needs help.
Family, relatives or an elder in the community can give assistance or advices to the child and his/her parents. In case of long term or serious mental health issues, talk about it to a teacher, a health worker, and child to counselor or psychologist.

1. Domestic violance can explain the child's poor performance at school
2. War, social conflicts, any violent event is potentially traumatic for children.

Poor School Performance
many reasons can be behind the poor school performance of a child. The problems can be linked to :
Disease : for example a chronic or a brain-related illness
Family : alcoholism, domestic violence, quarrels between family members
School : overcrowded schools, conflicts with teachers or other students
Environment : war, social conflicts, traumatic events
To help the child, it is important to understand why he/she does not have good results.
Parents and teachers should not blame him/her for being lazy. Unless it is advised by an health worker, he/she should not be removed from school: this would enhance his/her problems.

Sources : WHO, Health Massenger, www.cartoonstock.com