Teen Mental Health Problems Undiagnosed, Misdiagnosed in US

Evans, D.L.; R.E. Gur, H. Hendlin, C.P. O’Brien, E.B. Foa, eds. (2005) A Call For Treatments And Preventions That Work For Adolescents: A Research Agenda For Mental Health. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Amazon UK | Amazon US]

According to this new book in which 150 mental health specialists analyze recent research on teen mental health problem, adolescents in the US are more likely to suffer from a mental health disorder than ever before, but getting these teens diagnosed and cared for is a challenge that is not being met. These specialists found that while one in five adolescents suffer from a mental health disorder, treating them is not a priority on the nation’s public health agenda, and there is limited knowledge about how to best help them. The result is that disorders frequently remain undiagnosed or misdiagnosed, and teenagers often receive treatment whose effectiveness has been mostly studied in adults.

Among the book’s recommendations and conclusions:

• School-based services for the assessment, treatment, and prevention of adolescent mental health problems must be improved.
• Primary care physicians must improve their ability to recognize and diagnose mental health disorders, and refer teens to specialists for further help.
• The health care system should allow treatment of different disorders by different practitioners.
• Mental health treatments should receive full parity under insurance plans.
• Public awareness of mental health disorders and their treatments must be increased to reduce stigma.
• More research is crucial on the best treatment methods for teens.

From the publisher’s promotional text about the book:

Following on the heels of the widely acclaimed A Guide to Treatments That Work (OUP, 2002) [Amazon UK | Amazon US] by Nathan and Gorman, Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders brings together a distinguished group of psychiatrists and clinical psychologists to provide a groundbreaking, evidence-based survey of treatments and preventions for adolescents with mental health disorders. The book, the very first to disseminate the findings of the Adolescent Mental Health Initiative sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands and the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania, addresses the current state of our knowledge about various mental health disorders in the teenage years, a developmental period when behavior and the brain are still ‘plastic’. Here, six commissions established by the Sunnylands Trust and APPC pool their expertise on adolescent anxiety, schizophrenia, substance use disorders, depression and bipolar disorders, eating disorders, and suicide in sections that thoroughly define each disorder, outline and assess available treatments, discuss prevention strategies, and suggest a research agenda based on what we know and don’t yet know about these various conditions. As a meaningful counterpoint to its primary focus on mental illness, the volume also incorporates the latest research from a seventh commission-on positive youth development — which addresses how we can fully prepare young people to be happy and successful throughout their lives. Concluding chapters discuss other critical issues of particular relevance: the stigma of mental illness, the role of primary-care doctors and school-based mental health professionals in the detection and treatment of adolescent mental health problems, and the research, policy, and practice context for the delivery of evidence-based treatments. Integrating the work of eminent scholars in both psychology and psychiatry, this work will be an essential volume for academics and practicing clinicians and will serve as a wake-up call to mental health professionals and policy makers alike about the state of our nation’s response to the needs of adolescents with mental disorders.

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