This week is Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week. As parents, it’s important we understand the signs and suggested solutions to help our sons with mental illness. For example, I have a aunt that suffers from mental illness and since genetics play a role in mental illness, it’s essential that I’m aware. Here are a few links that I found that will be helpful to you:
According to this document I found on gender and mental illness, “boys experience more problems with anger, engage in high-
risk behaviors and commit suicide more frequently than girls. In general, adolescent girls are more prone to symptoms that are directed inwardly, while adolescent boys are more prone to act out.”
Another good reference on children and mental illness and boys can be found here. ADHD, mood disorders and anxiety disorders are few mentioned. According to the research on the above link, “the causes of most mental health disorders lie in some combination of genetic and environmental factors.”
According to the National Mental Health Information Center website, “Children whose fathers are highly involved with them in a positive way do better in school, demonstrate better psychological well-being and lower levels of delinquency, and ultimately attain higher levels of education and economic self-sufficiency.”
