We have an assignment for you: when your family is gathered to celebrate any of the upcoming holidays, have a conversation about your health history. There’s no better time than now to learn about your family’s health history, including mental health issues.
This year, two state legislatures passed statewide mandates for providing mental health education in public schools. What should kids be learning about mental health, and when, and from whom?
Care for Your Mind
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on September 5, 2018, new state grants to integrate the final 10 states into the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS): Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming. NVDRS will now receive data on violent deaths from all 50 states; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico.
Care for Your Mind
Fifty-four percent of people who died by suicide did not have a known mental health condition.
That’s a key message from the June 2018 issue of “Vital Signs,” published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (download). What should we interpret this number to mean?
On May 23, 2018, U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) filed legislation (S.2934) to hire more mental health professionals in schools across the country. The move was prompted not only by school shootings but a 2016 report from the Florida Association of School Psychologists that found Florida has only one school psychologist for every 1,983 students. Compared to the nationally recommended ratio of between 500 and 700 students per psychologist, the data shows Florida has only one-fourth the number of school psychologists it needs to properly care for its students. That lack of available mental health professionals in Florida’s schools is one of the reasons why only a small percentage of children in Florida who need mental health services receive them.
Susan Weinstein
Editor in Chief, Care for Your Mind
June is Pride Month, a time when we celebrate the creative, intellectual, and cultural contributions of people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender to our society, while we also protest the inequalities and unfair treatment that LGBT+ people continue to face in modern times.
Susan Weinstein, J.D.
Editor in Chief, Care for Your Mind
As Mental Health Awareness Month continues, we are again in the position of gun violence determining the conversation about mental illness. Friday’s deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School – where 10 people (2 teachers and 8 students aged 15-17) were killed and 13 were injured – shifted the conversation from raising awareness, cultivating understanding, and dispelling stigma to equating mental illness with violence. Reaction to this shooting shows how much work we still have to do.
Throughout September 2017, in conjunction with National Suicide Prevention Month, our CFYM posts dealt with various aspects of suicide prevention: the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention’s 2012 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP); the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s policy agenda related to suicide prevention at both the federal and state levels; a suicide attempt survivor’s personal experience of sharing her own story to help both those struggling with suicidal ideation and peers at elevated risk for suicidal ideation and attempts; and efforts directed at young people, primarily in academic settings.
You Care, Help Share During Mental Health Awareness Month Families for Depression Awareness
For Mental Health Awareness Month, Families for Depression Awareness has launched #YouCareHelpShare, a campaign to provide education and encouragement to family caregivers. Through the distribution of caregiver education materials and a social media awareness campaign, we aim to help caregivers all across the U.S. get the support, information, and resources they need to be effective partners in care.
The importance of caregivers
Caregivers of people with depression or bipolar disorder play a crucial role in their loved ones’ lives. Parents, spouses, siblings, and other close connections are pivotal in recognizing a problem, accessing care, and lending sup...
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