It just takes a little understanding

By Linda Petersen
Posted 12/2/16

You are about to go before a large crowd to give a speech. Suddenly, you have lost the ability to think and panic sets in. Your heart rate has skyrocketed and it feels as though your heart is going …

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It just takes a little understanding

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You are about to go before a large crowd to give a speech. Suddenly, you have lost the ability to think and panic sets in. Your heart rate has skyrocketed and it feels as though your heart is going to beat out of your chest. A shaking hand reaches up to wipe off beads of sweat that are pouring down your forehead, and your breathing is rapid, sharp, and uncontrollable. You are experiencing anxiety, the same symptoms of anxiety which many children face today, only their anxiety doesn’t go away when the speech is over. It stays with them when trying to do everyday things, such as go into a crowded store, talk to new people, take a test in school, or even walk through the doors of their school.

You have the overwhelming fear that you forgot to turn the curling iron off and your house will catch on fire. Or the front door wasn’t locked and the gang that has been burglarizing the neighborhood will surely target your house, stealing all your prized possessions. Panic sets in! Unable to get home to remedy the situation, your stomach churns in knots of worry, filling your brain with such a sense of dread that you cannot concentrate on anything else. Obsessed with concern, you are experiencing the same symptoms as many children with obsessive compulsive disorder. These children become pre-occupied with random, unique thoughts that interfere with their ability to function as other children do. They may be afraid of germs, losing a loved one, something bad will happen to them if they do not count their steps while they walk and touch each doorframe, and keeping things in rigid order. It is difficult for them to concentrate on anything else when obsessions fill their brains.

A person whom you love very much passes away. Devastation overwhelms you with crying, stomachaches, lack of appetite, trouble sleeping, and sometimes a sense that you, too, want to die. It is very difficult to go through the steps of daily life because tiredness fills the aches in your joints. Things may look hopeless as you experience depression, but generally these feelings will lessen as time goes by, the feeling of loss decreases and acceptance sets in. Children who are depressed feel the same way, but their feelings do not lessen over time. They may be hopeless, become isolated and unable to experience the joyful things in life. As these symptoms carry on for years, they may cause self-injury (cutting, burning,) and, ultimately, choose the only way out of the pain that they see; suicide.

You are very busy and have a million things going on in your mind at the same time; must make doctor’s appointment for your son’s allergies, dentist appointment for your daughter, pick up craft items for son’s school project, stop by the store to pick up milk and bread for the upcoming winter storm, plan where you are going for vacation next summer, pay the bills that are late and you are barely able to afford, get the car brakes fixed so you won’t have to share a car with your significant other, deal with a nasty colleague at work who always samples your lunch from the work refrigerator, send a birthday card to your sister and a get well card to your brother, and bake for the PTA bake sale. Your nerves are on edge and the sound of the telephone ringing jolts you, sending the swirling thoughts into a whirlwind, frustrating you that you cannot separate and work on them one at a time. With so much on your mind, you find yourself not really paying attention to your husband when he talks to you. It sounds like “blah blah blah blah,” and he gets angry with you for not listening. Such is the experience of children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Their brains, which may contain great intelligence and capability, are whirlwinds of thoughts that are intermingled and interfere with their ability to concentrate on any one thing.

They may feel the need to be constantly on the move, such as when you are nervous and wiggle your foot back and forth during an important meeting. They may be unable to sit still, bouncing, fidgeting, and looking in every direction from which a distraction presents itself, (someone is using the pencil sharpener, the cute teacher in high heels is clicking down the hallway, the heating vent churns with fresh air, and someone outside is mowing the lawn.) There is no “off” switch for children with ADHD.

The above scenarios are designed to demonstrate four major childhood mental health issues that interfere with their ability to function as a typical child at home, in the community and in a classroom setting. In the classroom setting they are set up for success or failure that will follow them into adulthood. When enlightened educators understand the dynamics of the issues, accommodations are made and education is customized per each child’s needs. Only then can the child move forward with positive self-esteem, using the techniques they are taught to be successful in school and life. When any of these mental health conditions are looked at as behaviors that the child “must learn to deal with,” failure will be an option. They are not willfully not paying attention, anxious in school, depressed or obsessed; these are proven medical conditions over which they have no control, any more than a person with the flu can stop coughing when it is demanded of him. Providing these children with thoughtful, positive school experiences early on provide their best bet for lifelong success. To do otherwise can ruin self-esteem, cause actual behavioral problems and lead to truancy, acting out, drugs, depression, self-injury, and suicide attempts. Let’s improve the lives of children with mental health issues. It just takes a little understanding.

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