Awareness Day Social Media

Click here to see highlights from the April 17, 2012, Awareness Day Twitter chat co-hosted by SAMHSA and the Surgeon General of the United States Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A.

Click here to see highlights of the national and local Awareness Day Twitter conversations from May 9 to 11, 2012.

As National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day approaches on May 9, 2012, a data point will be released at least once a month about trauma and resilience in children and youth. Help raise awareness about the importance of children's mental health by sharing these data points with your distribution list of child-, youth-, and family-serving organizations, associations, agencies, and individuals and encouraging them to share with their contacts.

You can use the message as a stand-alone e-mail message, a component of your signature block, or to post on various blogs, social media, and other means of communicating with your colleagues. The messages below are designed to be short enough to share on Twitter or Facebook; a longer version is available through a link in each message that you can share via e-mail.

If you use Twitter to share this message, or any message about Awareness Day, use the hashtag #HeroesofHope to join the conversation!

May 2012

Abuse and neglect can disrupt attachment and stem the development of important relational capacities. Nearly 35 percent of children and youth who are reported for maltreatment demonstrate significant deficits in social skills.

With help from families, friends, providers, and other Heroes of Hope, children and youth can be resilient when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/JWjb5E to learn more.

April 2012

In a nationally representative survey of 12- to 17-year-old youths and their trauma experiences, 39 percent reported witnessing violence, 17 percent reported physical assault, and 8 percent reported a lifetime prevalence of sexual assault.

With help from families, friends, providers, and other Heroes of Hope, children and youth can be resilient when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/Ie4UjT to learn more.

March 2012

Young people who are homeless or runaway, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) are more likely to report victimization on the streets, versus heterosexual runaway youth (58.7 percent versus 33.4 percent).

With help from families, friends, providers, and other Heroes of Hope, children and youth can be resilient when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/vZjhL8 to learn more.

February 2012

Among a sample of youth in juvenile detention, 93 percent of males and 84 percent of females reported exposure to a traumatic experience. Eleven percent of males and 15 percent of females met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD and other mental health challenges can impair a youth's capacity to reach age-appropriate developmental goals.

With help from families, friends, providers, and other Heroes of Hope, children and youth can be resilient when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/zKxV8K to learn more.

January 2012

Children and youth who experience trauma display increases in stress hormones comparable to those displayed in combat veterans. Researchers point to multiple potential outcomes for children exposed to trauma, including attachment, mood regulation, dissociation, self-concept challenges, and behavioral, cognition, and biological changes, all of which can have a negative impact on school attendance, learning, and academic achievement.

With help from families, friends, providers, and other Heroes of Hope, children and youth can be resilient when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/AbbNsM to learn more.

May 2011

When exposed to a traumatic event, children as young as 18 months can have serious emotional and behavioral problems later in childhood and in adulthood. More than 35 percent of children exposed to a single traumatic event will develop serious mental health problems.

With help from families, providers, and the community, young children can demonstrate resilience when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/eURFX5 to learn more.

Late April 2011

In 2009, researchers found that more than 60 percent of youth age 17 and younger have been exposed to crime, violence and abuse either directly or indirectly including witnessing a violent act, assault with a weapon, sexual victimization, child maltreatment and dating violence. Nearly 10 percent were injured during the exposure to violence, 10 percent were exposed to maltreatment by caretaker, and 6 percent were a victim of sexual assault.

With help from families, providers, and the community, children and youth can demonstrate resilience when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/fAInvl to learn more.

April 2011

As the number of traumatic events experienced during childhood increases, the risk for the following problems in adulthood increases: depression; alcoholism; drug abuse; suicide attempts; heart and liver disease; pregnancy problems; high stress; uncontrollable anger; and family, financial, and job problems.

With help from families, providers, and the community, children and youth can be resilient when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/h1fWPD to learn more.

March 2011

Studies on the brain show that physical, emotional, or sexual abuse in childhood can cause permanent damage to the brain, reduce the size of parts of the brain, impact the way a child’s brain copes with daily stress, and can result in enduring problems such as depression, anxiety, aggression, impulsiveness, delinquency, hyperactivity, and substance abuse.

With help from families, providers, and the community, young children can demonstrate resilience when dealing with trauma. Visit http://1.usa.gov/faK4p1 to learn more.

February 2011

Young children exposed to 5 or more significant adversities in the first 3 years of childhood face a 76 percent likelihood of having one or more delays in their cognitive, language, or emotional development.

With help from families, providers, and the community, young children can demonstrate resilience when dealing with trauma. Visit http://bit.ly/ik4yas to learn more.

Data Point Pages

Technical Assistance: Social Media

Web badge available for download (jpg)

This is an image of the Web Badge titled National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day. Right click here to download this image

Click the button below to automatically copy the web badge code, then paste it into your site code or blog post.

SAMHSA Children

Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration