Half of U.S. Teens Have Mental Disorders

If this study is accurate, this is really serious....

National Institute of Mental Health: Half of U.S. Teens Have
Mental Disorders

Oct. 18 (LPAC)--Corroborating Lyndon LaRoouche's recent comments
on the degeneration of the nation's young, a study released by
the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) says that fully
one-half of all Americans aged 13-19 have some mental disorder;
and that in more than 22% of them, the disorder is so severe that
it impairs their daily activities. ``The prevalence of severe
emotional and behavior disorders is even higher than the most
frequent major physical conditions in adolescence, including
asthma or diabetes," the study says.

The study published in the {Journal of the American Academy
of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry} reports that 51% of boys and
49% of girls have mood, behavior, anxiety and/or substance-use
disorders.

Many regional surveys conducted in the United States have
indicated that about one in four to five children experience a
mental disorder sometime in their life. But until now, no
nationally representative surveys had been conducted to determine
if these prevalence-rates of a wide range of mental health
problems hold true across the nation.

Kathleen Merikangas, PhD, of NIMH and colleagues analyzed
data from the National Comorbidity Study-Adolescent Supplement
(NCS-A), a nationally representative, face-to-face survey of more
than 10,000 teens ages 13 to 18.

The NIMH says more research is needed to better understand
the risk factors for developing a mental disorder in youth, as
well as how to predict which disorders may continue into
adulthood. In addition, the researchers acknowledge the need for
more prospective research to figure out the complex interplay
among socioeconomic, biological, and genetic factors that may
contribute to the development of mental disorders in youth.
Before that further research is completed, will will we stop
the descent into a deranged dark age? [fhb]