Does a family's income have an impact on a child's mental health? Statistics say it might. Enjoy another of the terrific series appearing recently in the Calgary Herald.
By Gwendolyn Richards, Calgary Herald
As school started for another year last fall and students readjusted to busy schedules, Mary had more to worry about than getting her teenage daughter out the door in time for the day’s first class.
Physically beaten — and beaten down — at the hands of her then 14-year-old daughter, who was ready to take her own life, Mary had her daughter hospitalized.
For the next two weeks, doctors were able to work with Lori and make recommendations to Mary, giving the mom access to much more help than she had when her daughter was at home.
Lori (not her real name) was Mary’s fourth child, so she knew something was amiss from the start. Her baby daughter slept with her eyes open, would be caught sleepwalking and — when she headed to preschool at the age of three — teachers reported she was hitting.
The child was angry and stressed.
But not even Mary’s now ex-husband believed anything was wrong.
Alone, Mary pursued help, looking for a diagnosis that took five years to secure: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiance disorder, plus depression and anxiety issues.
“If she had been my first child, maybe I would have just ignored it. But I started to see behaviours that didn’t seem normal,” Lori says. “I just kept fighting; the only thing that mattered to me was helping my kid.”
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/Does+family+income+have+effect+children+mental+health/5523732/story.html#ixzz1aQJ1ZV00
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