SPECIAL FOCUS : Children & Adolescents
Mental Health in the News
Clinician ’ s Digest
Compiled by Kathleen McCarthy , The Advocate Magazine
MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NEWS items are culled from news reports , articles , and blogs about people and events related to mental health . CLINICIAN ’ S DIGEST items are research results related to mental health and clinical mental health counseling . See the full list of MENTAL HEALTH IN THE NEWS and CLINICIAN ’ S DIGEST items at : www . amhca . org / publications / advocatemag
Why We Need to Stop Politicizing Children ’ s Mental Health
There is a huge body of research that unambiguously shows that children ’ s mental health in the United States was already really bad before the pandemic .
SOURCE : By Judith Warner , March 27 , 2022 , The Washington Post Magazine , wapo . st / 3Ogv5LZ
How to Talk to Your Parents About Mental Health
Talking to a parent about mental health can be scary . Many people report being afraid to tell their parents because they don ’ t want to upset them . … Here are some of the most common concerns people give for not talking to their parents — and some tips for overcoming them .
SOURCE : Mental Health America : bit . ly / 3Pz0Hxs
Should Parents Worry About New Research Linking Kids ’ Mental Health and Individual Sports ?
… [ K ] ids who played only individual sports , like tennis or gymnastics , tended to face more mental health difficulties , such as anxiety and depression or troubles with concentration , than peers who played no sports at all . Youngsters who participated exclusively in team sports , on the other hand , were less likely to experience these issues than those who didn ’ t play any sport .
SOURCE : By Alex Fox , June 1 , 2022 , Smithsonian Magazine : bit . ly / 3yRsiDq
New Videos and Illustrated Stories Help Kids & Teens Manage Mental Health & Emotions During COVID-19
A new set of online tools from the National Academies of Sciences , Engineering , and Medicine helps teens , kids , and parents deal with the mental and emotional impacts of COVID-19 . Videos and comic strip-style illustrated stories — in both English and Spanish — guide kids and parents through classic CBT techniques and skills that can help them cope and develop healthy ways to deal with stressful situations . … The resources were designed to be racially and culturally inclusive , LGBTQ + friendly , and accessible .
SOURCE : The National Academies of Science , Engineering , Medicine , Sept . 23 , 2021 , bit . ly / 3uXihTY
Public Health : Tackling Adolescent Stress
Stress-related thoughts and physiological responses in adolescents can be reduced using a single 30-minute online training session . The findings suggest a short , low-cost treatment for adolescent stress that could be scaled nationally .
SOURCE : By David S . Yeager , July 7 , 2022 Nature Magazine : go . nature . com / 3crRit6
CDC : More Teenage Girls in ER for Mental Health Conditions During Pandemic
The roughly two years since the beginning of the pandemic have seen a significant increase in teenage girls visiting emergency rooms due to mental health conditions . The CDC study found that the proportion of emergency room visits made by girls aged 12 to 17 doubled for eating disorders and approximately tripled for tic disorders during the pandemic when compared with 2019 . It also reported that adolescent girls ’ emergency room visits rose for depression and OCD disorder in 2021 .
SOURCE : By Chloe Folmar , The Hill , Feb . 22 , 2022 : bit . ly / 3aKPF9A
Young People ’ s Mental Health Is Getting Worse , But Mindfulness Training Isn ’ t the Answer
A UK-based research project , the largest of its kind on the subject , has suggested that mindfulness training in schools might be a dead end ... . The study , which involved 28,000 children , 650 teachers and 100 schools , looked at the impact of mindfulness training over an eight-year period and found that the technique didn ’ t help the mental health and well-being of adolescents ages 11 – 14 .
SOURCE : By Katie Hunt , CNN , July 12 , 2022 : cnn . it / 3zhljoQ
Young People : Key to Better Mental Health Research
Young people who experience mental health challenges and treatment can provide unique insights that others do not have . ... There is evidence that involving people with lived experience in research helps to improve funding success , recruitment rates , and research outcomes .
SOURCE : Nature Human Behaviour , by Magenta Simmons , Sept . 20 , 2021 : Nat Hum Behav 5 , page 1,263 ( 2021 ): doi . org / 10.1038 / s41562-021-01186-6 .
The Advocate Magazine 2022 , Issue # 2 American Mental Health Counselors Association ( AMHCA ) www . amhca . org 13