New free guide to children's mental health

By Eileen Buckley

Buffalo, NY – This is Children's Mental Health Awareness Week. The Child and Adolescent Treatment Services in Buffalo, know as CATS, has introduced a new free resource guide to help parents and professionals who treat children.

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Bonnie Glazer is director of CATS. The agency has been working for more than 70 years to assist families to help vulnerable children.

"Bullying, sexting, depression, suicide and sex abuse. These are words that sock our sensibility as human beings," said Glazer.

CATS unveiled its first resource guide for professionals who work with children and adolescents. But it includes school teachers, pediatricians and parents. And with an added layer of Internet and cell phone bullying, Glazer says they must work even harder to educate and inform adults about mental health disorders.

The agency emphasized that mental illness is treatable. Still statistics are starling. Out of 20% affected by mental disorders, only one out of five will receive treatment.

Dr. Maureen Montgomery is with Amherst Pediatrics. She applauded teh resource guide.

Montgomery says if parents can use the guide to help answer questions about their children behavior, the doctors will also be able to treat children for mental health issues. "How much more effective we can be in our doctors offices to help families get help with their kids," said Mongomery.

CATS now has specific programs dedicated to helping children and adolescents to deal with mental illness that leads to self-harm from cyber bulling and depression. The experts say adults must break the stigma of discussing mental health illness.