Problems, implications and challenges in children mental health: the need of a change in professional role

Abstract

Despite the emerging awareness of children 's problems and needs during the last years, infant, children and youth mental health is still an area full of negligence and crisis. High prevalence of behavioral, emotional and social disorders from birth to adolescence demands urgent actions in order to stop this public health problem. However, there is a huge gap between the magnitude of this mental health problems and the amount of specialized professionals who can face this issue. The present paper tackles this dilemmas and challenges, making a contribution about some important changes in the professional role, in order to adapt to this serious crisis of children mental health.