HJNO May/Jun 2023

44 MAY / JUN 2023 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS CHILDREN’S HEALTH include emotional, physical, and sexual abuse; trafficking; memories from acci- dents; witnessing a murder and/or other violent crime; and the passing of a loved one. Children are also facing internal and environmental struggles that go along with gender identity and sexual orientation, as well as depression and anxiety. Interfamily conflict, such as divorce and the general dy- namics within these relationships with par- ents and siblings, can present challenges for them as well. Compounding this situation, parents may be struggling with unresolved emotional issues that negate appropriate modeling behavior for their children which can exacerbate the relationship. COLUMN CHILDREN’S HEALTH MORE than one in five children struggle with a significant mental disorder. Over the last decade, we’ve seen a 60% increase in youth suicide rates across the nation. From 2018 to 2020, suicide was the third leading cause of death for adolescents ages 5 to 14 and the second leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24. According to the Underlying Cause of Death database from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the statistics strongly indicate children and adolescents are ex- periencing increased levels of anxiety and depression, and more than half of parents are worried about the mental state of their children. The time for families to begin having real conversations about mental health is now. Primarily, it is critical for parents to first un- derstand the issues that impact their child’s well-being. The more obvious, general in- dicators of stress for children are academ- ic pressures (such as standardized testing and the competitive nature of collegiate expectations, which often is a transference of worry from parent to child); peer/social expectations to fit into the more prevalent societal norms that exist within their own demographical scope, as well as bullying and family conflict. A more deeply rooted issue that may take time to unravel is trauma, which can How to Have a Candid Conversation with Children about Mental Health