A Mother's Plea: Help My 10-Year-Old, Who Has Suffered Since Age 4

Gianni Cristini is 10 years old. He has been hearing voices in his head since he was four — he has said his stuffed toys spoke to him, and he has threatened to kill himself. His mother, Jennifer Cristini, told CNN's Elizabeth Landau she wanted cameras in her home so other parents would know they are not alone. (CNN)

Gianni was adopted at birth and raised with love and care. Some nights, from the time he was 18 months old, he would not sleep at all. When his tantrums became unmanageable, his parents started searching the internet for answers — and then began the long road of doctors, second opinions, and shifting diagnoses: autism, ADHD, and, most recently, a bipolar-schizophrenic disorder. Years later, they are still unsure.

He is violent, with a huge temper, and often threatens to hurt his parents. At ten they can still manage him; they lie awake worrying about when he is bigger and they can't.

Jennifer's guilt is the kind every parent of a sick child knows: did we see the right doctor? Should we be doing something else? These questions never leave her.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that 4 million children and adolescents in the U.S. suffer from a serious mental disorder that causes significant functional impairment at home, at school, and with peers. Yet childhood mental illness gets far less compassion, research, and public attention than its scale deserves.

Jennifer's message to pediatricians, schools, and her community was simple: change. And her message to other families was simpler still — "We need help."