Alliance for Children's Mental Health

Saniya Soni (00:04):

When I was starting to struggle, I didn't know what it was that I was experiencing or the fact that there were other people experiencing the same thing that I was. But now that I know that there is help out there, it's just a matter of finding and accessing those resources that are gonna get me to the place that I really want to be. I started experiencing symptoms of depression when I was coming out of fifth grade. I felt isolation and sadness. I didn't really know how to cope with any of it.

Harold S. Koplewicz (00:47):

According to the Child Mind Institute's children's mental health report, 17.1 million children will have a mental health disorder before the age of 18. That means one in five children in the United States struggle with one of these disorders.

Saniya Soni (01:02):

The stigma not only from my friends, but my teachers, my parents, my community was pretty pervasive.

Mankamal Nidhi (01:14):

I, I didn't even know what depression is or what, uh, what kind of other mental illnesses are there until I started taking her to the doctor or until she started really voicing it out that, "I need help".

Harold S. Koplewicz (01:29):

So one of the things we have to do is recognize how real, common and treatable these disorders are, and secondly, we need better access to care.

Joan Steinberg (01:41):

For more than 50 years. The Morgan Stanley Foundation has focused on children's health, and there's no way that we can say that's our mission and not include children's mental health. The Morgan Stanley Alliance for Children's Mental Health brings together nonprofit charitable experts that we can partner with to really deliver on this issue. We are really trying to take proven models and evidence-based approaches to children's mental health and bring them to scale. We have a great opportunity to be a part of helping our own communities really think about and improve on children's mental health.

Harold S. Koplewicz (02:14):

These disorders are as real as a cough, as a rash, or as serious as cancer. When they get a diagnosis and they get the right kind of treatment, they're able to have a full life.

Saniya Soni (02:29):

Ultimately, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. I was on antidepressants and I was going to therapy, and it was the first time that someone had told me that the experiences that I was going through were valid, and it really released a lot of burden from me. So now I'm studying psychology and ultimately I want to do what those therapists did for me because I know how powerful it can be to have someone on your side that is advocating for you when you're not in a place to advocate for yourself.