In the agency's first-ever study of mental disorders among children aged 3 to 17, researchers found childhood mental illnesses affect up to one in five kids and cost $247 billion per year in medical bills, special education and juvenile justice.Well, there are a lot of things contributing to increasing diagnoses and spiralling costs, not the least of which is self-serving psychs and pharmas.
But this data is independent of that and should shock everyone:
The study also noted that suicide, which can be precipitated by an untreated mental illness, was the second leading cause of death (after accidents) among children 12 to 17 years old.That, my friends, is a very serious problem.
