Search results for 'suicide'

Should We Screen Middle and High School Students for Mental Health Disorders?

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90% of youth who die by suicide suffer from a treatable mental illness. 

65% experience symptoms for a full year prior to their death.

When we identify kids at risk, we can save lives.

Over 10 years ago, President George Bush accepted The New Freedom Commission on Mental Health recommendation that the federal and state governments work to implement broader access for youth mental health screenings as a matter of public health.  While we are still waiting for federal assistance, local organizations are taking up the challenge and offering free mental health screenings to middle and high school age students. One of those organizations, Mental Health America of Illinois (MHAI) has been quietly running a mental health screening program, Youth Screen, in Chicago-area schools since 2007.

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A Conversation with David Baron, MSED, DO

david_baronDavid Baron, MSED, DO

Professor and Vice Chair, and Chief of Psychiatry, University Hospital, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California

Care For Your Mind: As the provisions of the Affordable Care Act are implemented, what are the big changes you see for mental health care?

David Baron: Mostly, they are positive changes. More people will receive services whether under expanded Medicaid or purchasing insurance: this will enable them to seek care that they might not have had previously. The key will be making sure there are enough professionals to provide the care that people need and, of course, helping people to understand what kind of care they are entitled to.

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Keeping Our Loved Ones Safe and Getting Them Well

Families for Depression Awareness

FDA_logo_greenAs family caregivers and caring friends of people living with mood disorders or other mental health conditions, we want to help our loved ones by

  • keeping them safe
  • getting them care to get well; and
  • preventing suicides.

Sometimes people are in a state of mind that prevents them from making sound decisions. There are mental states (e.g., experiencing psychosis) and physical conditions (e.g., effects from a stroke) that can adversely affect a person’s usual good judgment. We agree with DBSA and others that, ideally, a person with a mental health condition will engage family members and friends as partners in wellness and in crisis. There will be a written plan and the legal documents necessary to ensure that care is pursued and provided according to the individual’s wishes as expressed when he or she was well. Mental health practitioners can make sure that families get information about this and should strongly encourage patients to bring a family member to at least the first appointment.

The Reality

In our experience, all too often these conversations and pre-planning have not occurred, and the family member must navigate the complex medical, insurance, and legal systems to get emergency care for their loved one.

Family members are frequently excluded from mental health care decisions, despite being the ones who often have the most pertinent knowledge and the greatest motivation to get someone the care they need to get well.

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Sequestration Update: Feeling the Pain

Care for Your Mind Update


capitol3Two months ago, we shifted from discussing the importance of access and barriers to access to examining how a specific governmental policy, sequestration, was impacting the delivery of mental health services across the country. Even then, we could already point to examples of sequestration’s impact: the closing of a residential treatment center in Alaska, the reduced availability of civilian mental health professionals to military personnel, and the increased wait to receive residential treatment in Utah—not to mention the potentially devastating long-term impact of spending cuts on research, both in terms of treating people during clinical studies and finding effective treatments to mental health conditions.

It is unsettling, though perhaps not surprising, that the most-reported impacts of sequestration have been airport travel delays and the cancellation of air shows at Military bases for the July 4 celebrations. Because these cause discomfort for the general population, they are easy topics for media coverage. However, this does not appropriately reflect the level of real suffering happening as a result of sequestration across the country. This under representation of suffering is probably due to the fact that the populations arguably suffering the most severe consequences from sequestration are in fact underrepresented in general—the poor, people in the military, and minorities (an ironic realization as we reach the end of National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, which draws attention to the need for mental health awareness, better utilization of services, and the development of culturally competent care for the nation’s racial and ethnic minorities).

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Expert Perspectives Contributors

Active Minds

Active Minds is the nation’s leading organization dedicated to empowering students to speak openly about mental health in order to educate others and encourage help seeking. The organization engages thousands of student leaders nationwide through a rapidly growing network of more than 400 campus chapters, promoting a unified national voice for young adults in the mental health awareness movement.

Anne Marie Albano, Ph.D.

Dr. Albano has been a member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America since 1993 and conducts clinical research, supervises the research and clinica...

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Policy in Practice: How Companies Can Address Mental Health

Clare Miller

Clare Miller
Director, Partnership for Workplace Mental Health

Employers who seek to address mental health issues in the workplace have a daunting task. After all, a comprehensive mental health workplace program could include the following:

  • developing a mental health policy that complies with federal and state law
  • implementing an employee assistance program
  • training managers to recognize mental illness and make referrals
  • offering mental health wellness programs, such as stress reduction and mental health awareness trainings and mental health screening tools
  • supporting employees’ health care needs, including providing adequate health insurance and allowing treatment-related time off
  • addressing employees’ concerns about their co-workers, including providing support services in the event of a mental health-related emergency or death (e.g., attempted or completed suicide)
  • communicating with employees about mental health to allay their concerns about job loss, stigma, etc., and encourage them to get help

The good news is that there are a number of programs and resources to help employers address their workplace mental health needs. Today, we look at two companies that have successfully introduced mental health programs, and Clare Miller shares information about Right Direction, a new program from The Partnership for Workplace Mental Health and Employers Health.

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Congress Should Provide for Students’ Mental Health

Jessica Eagle, M.A.Ed., N.C.C.
Legislative Representative, 
American Counseling Association

Friendly Teens

Since the Newtown tragedy, a spotlight has been placed on the mental health of our country’s youth, creating an expectation among many Americans that we would come together as a nation and respond to the need for improved school safety and mental health access. Indeed, dozens of bills were introduced in the Congress, and numerous Congressional hearings on mental health were held. In the Senate, 95 Senators voted in favor of the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act, which would have reduced youth suicide and mental health barriers to academic and social success.

Unfortunately, the effort to pass comprehensive mental health reform legislation has lost its momentum, leaving our schools and communities in a dire situation due to a one-two punch of funding cuts by state and local governments, and a polarized Congress’ inability to agree on a budget to fund essential community-based programs that support our country’s most vulnerable populations.

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Mental Health in Schools Act: Giving Kids a Fair Shot

Franken-071009-18449 0003It’s estimated that one in five U.S. youth experience mental illness. Yet less than half of kids with a diagnosable mental health disorder receive mental health treatment. (Some studies put this number as high as 80%.)

The consequences of undiagnosed and untreated mental illness in children are tragic. Over the past two decades, suicide rates have doubled among kids ages 10 to 14, and suicide is now the second-leading cause of death for young people ages 15 to 24.

What’s more, half of the high school students with mental health issues end up dropping out. Children with mental illness are also at higher risk for developing substance abuse problems in adolescence.

We know that children do better in school when they are well fed and well rested. Good mental health is just as important to kids’ school success, and children who have access to mental health treatment do better academically and socially.

Yet we don’t do a very good job of meeting the mental health needs of school-age children. The Mental Health in Schools Act, introduced by Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) in the Senate and Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-CA) in the House, hopes to correct that. It would expand access to mental health services in schools and give kids experiencing mental illness a fair shot at success.

“Addressing the mental and emotional needs of our kids is just as important as keeping them safe from physical injury and illness,” Sen. Franken said, in prepared remarks. “Healthy kids grow into healthy adults, and if we’re able to catch and address mental health issues early, we can help kids become productive members of society.”

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