Mental Health News

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Remember that weird kid in elementary school who seemed to be a few crayons short of a 64 color set of Crayola crayons-you know some mental health and behavioral issues that caused problems in school, at home and amongst his peers.  Well, many times we’ve seen that kid grow up as we moved through school with him or her and saw for ourselves what researchers are only now ‘confirming’ with studies.  Early mental health problems and behavior problems lead to rejection and friendlessness amongst their peers.  Duh.

Researchers apparently studied previous reports that followed the mental health problems of children around the ages of 6 and 7 and later compared them to reports of the same kids at 12 and 13 with problems of depression, loneliness and delinquency.  The researchers gathered information on 551 children and their teachers, mothers and peers to come to this eureka conclusion.  Most of the problems that qualified as mental health and behavioral problems were anxiety and fear of change, playing by oneself, hyperactivity, and physical aggression.

It’s nice that the researchers have found the studies back up this fact of life but it’s not an amazing discovery.  Unfortunately children with strange behavior in early childhood tend to be rejected by their peers as they grow older.  One could almost compare this to pack behavior or survival instinct.  They also found that kids with mental health problems such as anxiety tended to have fewer friends, though their chances of being rejected by their peers weren’t any less than other children.  Meaning, kids who are anxious are usually shy in new situations and around new people so they aren’t likely to be the life of the party and make a lot of friends.  However, that doesn’t mean others see anything wrong with them in particular.