Children’s mental health issues
70% of children in foster care have emotional disturbances. Some of these issues are caused by pre-placement situations, including abuse and neglect, parental addiction, and their own pre-existing mental health problems. Other disturbances are caused directly by the foster care experience, including the trauma and stress of separation, and the challenges presented by disruptions in placement.
Mental health issues come in a wide range of packages, including:
- Diagnosed mental health conditions
- Undiagnosed serious emotional disturbances
- Self-blame because of separation from parent
- Desire to return to parent
- Feeling unwanted, lonely, and insecure about the future
- Ambivalence about attachment to foster caregiver
- Anticipation of rejection after multiple placements
Some children are also inappropriately diagnosed with mental health problems because the evaluation comes too early in the foster care experience. Appropriate separation responses – confusion, lack of focus, rage, emotional numbess, regressive behavior – may all get misinterpreted as mental health issues, including ADHD. It is recommended that children are accompanied by a known and trusted adult at comprehensive mental health evaluations, and that these evaluations acknowledge the possibility of separation responses.
Attachment Disorders
One of the most significant mental health issues for children who have been abused or neglected is attachment disorders. Attachment is the sense of security, safety, and trust that human beings develop in their first three years of life. Children whose needs are not met consistently learn that the world is an unsafe place, and that there is no one who can be trusted to meet their needs.
Attachment disordered people may:
- Behave without regard for others
- Feel no remorse for wrongdoing
- Have no internalization of right and wrong.
At its most severe, people with attachment issues develop Reactive Attachment Disorder. To learn more about these issues, explore either of these sites:
Reactive Attachment Disorder does respond to treatment, but it is important to seek help as soon as possible. Treatment is typically directed at both the child and the caregivers. This means that parents who are reunifying with children who have attachment issues may need special support and help. And foster and kinship caregivers who are responsible for children with attachment issues similarly need help to begin to implement therapeutic parenting strategies immediately.
