Fewer than one in five children gets treatment for any mental health problems, the report adds. Clearly it is a crisis. Satcher's newest call adds to his report a year ago declaring mental disorders a major undertreated problem for adults and children. It comes amid a recent backlash against one prominent childhood problem, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Lawsuits charge ADHD is overdiagnosed to push the drug Ritalin to children who merely are rambunctious.
Some communities offer no child mental health services at all.
In one study, some children with emotional disorders didn't get proper school services until age 10. Just as for adults, insurance coverage for children's mental health is spotty. Advocates told of parents who relinquished custody so their children could receive welfare-funded therapy. One juvenile detention center study found that more than two-thirds of detainees had a psychiatric disorder. Yet the juvenile justice system seldom screens children for treatable illnesses.