Child Mental-Health Woes Multiply Kids have more problems and
much earlier than they did in the past -- but they're getting
too little help, despite an increase in prescriptions. By Daniel
DeNoon Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario In 2002, hardly a week went
by without another report of serious mental health problems in
younger and younger children. Are we overreacting? Or is
something going terribly wrong with our kids? "Serious mental
health problems do appear to be increasing in children and
adolescents," Kelly J. Kelleher, MD, MPH, tells WebMD. "Whether
this is the result of changes in society, upbringing, diet --
there is lots of speculation about why the trend is changing.
But most observers believe there is an increase, especially
among kids from difficult home situations and the kinds of
difficult backgrounds that place more and more children at
risk." Kelleher, director of clinical sciences at Columbus
Children's Research Institute and professor of pediatrics at
Ohio State University, notes that there's be