Anyone who's ever read, heard or watched anything I've talked about, knows that I am heavy in the human development sphere.  So, today, I wanted to talk about challenges that are common to many youths with mental illness. 



In general, these youth have a lot tougher time navigating their development than the average youth does.  They may experience uneven psychological development.  If they have experienced any trauma, or have a mental illness, they will have to deal with that in addition to the average developmental tasks that are expected of us as we grow.  That's why it's so important for parents or caregivers who have mentally ill children to work closely with the child's mental health providers to know how to help this child to grow as well as possible and be as close to their peers in development as possible.  We all want our children to have the best outcomes, and this is the best way to ensure that we are doing what is best for our mentally ill child.  If we are not suffering from exactly the same illness, and even then, mental illness presents differently in different people, we should want to keep communication with professionals who know exactly how to help us to help our child be as average as possible. 



Many parents are ashamed that their child is "different", and so don't ask questions, or ask for suggestions on how to help their child get through things, they just rely on the child's mental health provider to do the bulk of the work.  But, the provider is not in that child's home, and their caregiver is.  Caregivers should proactively ask any questions that they may have, and look for ways to help their child through their problems rather than taking a "hands off" approach, or reverting to out-dated and abusive punishment methods that only further traumatize the child.  Raising a child is a challenging and sometimes thankless job, but our children are our future, and we should strive to give them the best outcome possible. 



If more caregivers rose to the challenge of helping their mentally ill youth overcome their challenges, the world in general would see the positive benefit.  If uneven psychosocial development is allowed to go untreated, we see the evidence in society everyday, and in the juvenile justice system.  All children deserve to be loved and cared for.  Even those that society deem as mentally ill.  Rise to the challenge!



Rev. Angelia Schwarz-Coleman, CDCP, PFA II

Minister-Works of Heart

Executive Director-Healing Families' Lives, Inc.