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ARE YOU IN IT FOR ME?: Helping Kids With Bipolar (248 hits)

That's the buzz question sound bite I heard at least a hundred times yesterday. Of course, I put my own spin on it as I listened to Sen. Clinton ask folks at the DNC who supported her campaign some thought-provoking questions about commitment.

"Are you in it for me?" She asked, "Or the military soldier in Iraq?" and all of her questions were meant to bridge her followers with Barack's for the common cause of winning the Presidential election.

Now, I'm thinking about the 3.4 million kids in America with early signs of Bipolar. Yes, that is shocking and especially when you consider that those 3.4 million kids will eventually be 3.4 million adults in America with a mental illness.

There's obviously concerns about the state of mental healthcare in America because of this. Children with clinical depression are possibly the same children who attempt suicide by the time they are teens. They are possibly the same adults who will develop full-blown Bipolar by the time they enter their 20's, too. Children with ADHD fall into that category as well because ADHD has been recognized by the health professionals as an early symptom of Bipolarity. Do you know that our children have an ADHD diagnosis more than any other race group? Our children are routed into Special Education. Other race groups are routed into Gifted & Talented.

So, we have to be in it for OUR children! We have to be in it for the African-American children with early signs of Bipolar to receive quality mental healthcare now! Those children today are the children who will be taking care of us in the future. Those children today will be college students, professionals, mothers, fathers, siblings, politicians, etc. We have to be in it now for OUR children.

Without quality mental healthcare in our family and community, OUR children end up in the criminal justice system as juveniles. OUR children end up on the street corners engaged in illegal drug activity. OUR children don't have a church home. OUR children become drug and alcohol users. OUR children become teen parents. OUR children become welfare recipients. OUR children become tomb stones!!

So, can you see why we can no longer skip over the topic of mental healthcare in America?

Today, I wish we could all be in it for the kids. Do you?

Agnes ~ Too Wise Not To Praise Him!
Author of "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" ISBN 0975461206 Winter Release Pending