(HealthDay News) -- Mental, emotional and behavioral problems in young Americans cost the nation about $247 billion a year, says a report that urges the federal government to make preventing these disorders and promoting mental health in young people a priority.
Problems such as depression, anxiety, conduct disorders and substance abuse are about as common among children and adolescents as limb fractures, according to the report released Friday by the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine. In any given year, it notes, about 14 to 20 percent of young people in the United States have a mental, emotional or behavioral disorder.
Posted: Feb 16, 2009
